Beauty Sleep
by RoseDragonWitch
Summary: (Part of my HP Fairytale series) Long ago when princess Ginny was born, a dark wizard cast a curse so she will die on her sixteenth birthday. But instead, another wizard ensured that she will fall into a deep sleep instead… and will only awaken with a kiss of true love.
1. Prologue: The Curse is Cast

This is my retake on the story of Sleeping Beauty.

**Prologue: The Curse is Cast**

Once upon a time in a land not too far away, there was a beautiful kingdom where everyone lived in peace. This empire was large, and was prosperous with people who were happy with their lives; and at the center of this land was a castle where the royal family lived.

The rulers of this fair and happy kingdom were King Arthur and Queen Molly who lived in the palace with their large family. While they had been blessed with many sons, six in fact, they had no daughters. But they wanted one with all their hearts. And, to their greatest joy, the seventh child they had together had turned out to be a girl—the princess that they had longed for.

The day that she was born, the queen held her new daughter close to her heart, sweat covering her brow as her first born son, Bill, looked over the bed to get a better look at her. Smiling he picked up one of his little brothers to show him as well. Prince William—or Bill—was their oldest, but had been closely followed by Prince Charles—or Charlie for short—who were best friends. Then was Prince Percy, who was six years old, and then the twins Prince's Fredrick and George, who were four…

And finally the youngest was Prince Ronald… who was only a year old.

All of them had gathered together with their father to see the newest addition to the family. Bill held little Ron up a little higher so that he could see his little sister and mother better.

"This is your sister, Ginerva," the queen said, stroking the baby's hair, which was as red as the rest of her family, lovingly. "And I want you all to set a good example for her when she gets older, okay?"

"Yes, mother," Bill, Charlie, and Percy all said at once. The twins only grinned at her while Ron sucked on his hand, not having the slightest clue to what was happening.

"Boys, I think your mother and sister need their rest. Okay?" the King asked as he brushed the hair from his wife's fevered brow.

"Yes, Father," the boys said and left, with Bill still carrying Ron.

"How do you feel, dear?" Arthur asked her as he made sure that she was comfortable and the door shut after their sons.

"I feel fine, just tired," she sighed, not taking her eyes off the baby in her arms. "We finally have a girl," she whispered, as if afraid that by saying it to loudly would make it untrue. "A daughter…"

He beamed as he leaned in and kissed her. "Yes, dear. Now we have a complete family. Six wonderful sons… and a beautiful little girl… oh, that reminds me. I think we need to have a ball for her in a few days. We had one for all of the boys. And she will be given her blessing."

That was how it worked. Whenever a child was born, a witch or wizard would arrive and present them with a blessing. A blessing that would impact their lives… they could become talented artists, or perhaps skilled warriors… anything that would shape them into the person they would be. They could be blessed with a long and happy life, or one full of adventure, or even a hard-working one filled with many joys and sorrows…

Each of the princes was given something from a skilled young wizard named Albus Dumbledore. He had given the first born Bill the Blessing of Ability—meaning that he was a master at everything he touched…

As for Charlie, he had been given the Blessing of Strength—he would grow up to be a strong man, unafraid of hard work and danger. Percy was given the Blessing of Knowledge—and had already started reading as soon as he was old enough to pick up a book.

As for the twins, they were given the Blessing of Laughter—meaning that they would grow into the kind of people to bring laughter to everyone they met. And it was true already… you couldn't help but smile whenever they were around.

As for the last prince, he was given a very unusual blessing indeed. Albus had given him Blessing of Determination. Meaning, that he wouldn't give up… no matter how tough that things became… that even should he become lost, he would return to complete whatever he had to do.

Now that the princess had been born, her parents were wondering what kind of blessing she would get.

"I don't see why not," the Queen sighed happily. "But let us wait for a few more days at least. I do wonder what he will be given our baby this time."

"Absolutely, in two nights time…" he said with a smile as the queen held her daughter close to go to sleep.

It was two days later that the whole kingdom celebrated the birth of the princess that they had been waiting for so long. The entire kingdom rejoiced and had celebrations for three whole days as they did with the princes. On the final day of celebrations, a grand ball was planned and the guest list included the rulers of neighboring kingdoms, magical creatures and of course, the wizards. The party was in full swing, people making new friends, eating good food and cooing over the baby princess as a giant hoard of presents lay behind the crib.

The ballroom looked magnificent with the walls covered in beautiful scarlet and gold tapestries. The long elegant tables were covered in beautiful red silk, trimmed with gold. The china and silverware was gold in color and was set according to each person's hand.

The king and queen had sat next to each other at the largest table in the center. Next to them were their children in the order of their age, oldest to youngest, with the baby girl in a cradle between her parents.

As the night went on, one of the servants ran into the hall and blew a horn. He bowed politely at the king and queen and walked over the golden cradle where the princess was sleeping.

"I present to you the wizard to grant our princess with her blessing!" a guard's voice rang. Everyone turned to the front door to where a tall man with thick, auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes had appeared. "I present Albus Dumbledore!"

The young man smiled as he walked into the hall to great applause. A girl walked in beside him, and everyone knew that she was one of his closest friends, Minerva, who often accompanied him on his journeys. They both bowed respectfully to the king and queen before they looked into the cradle to see the sleeping princess.

"First I must congratulate you both," Dumbledore told them both smiling. "A beautiful little girl she is…"

"Thank you," Arthur smiled back, getting up to shake his hand as his wife did the same to Minerva. "Now, please tell me. What gift will you give our daughter?"

"I have thought long and hard about it," he told him. "Because, as we all know, once a blessing has been given, it will set the course of the child's life."

He looked at the queen and said, "I have thought about something more tradition such as beauty or song… but now that I see her, I don't think that it will do at all. I can tell she will be beautiful when she grows up… and song is so common that I don't want to give that to her either."

"Oh," the queen said surprised, "I see. But please take your time. I agree that it's not a decision to be decided quickly. So why don't you sit down and…?"

But she was never given a chance to finish for at that second, thunder and lightning stopped her from continuing as a terrible gale force wind blew through the hall. Everyone gasped and screamed when a giant black fire appeared and out of it was a man with a snake-like face and horrible red eyes.

It was the wizard Voldemort.

"A party? And I wasn't invited?" he asked quietly as his ugly, red eyes trailed over them all. The guests all drew back at once, terror on their faces as the dark wizard stepped into the center of the hall. Everyone in the hall knew that Voldemort was a wizard who appeared to give, not blessings, but curses to the children he met… curses that always ended in terrible tragedy for them.

"Well, quite a nice crowd, your majesty. Purebloods, half-bloods, Muggle-borns, and…" his eyes fell onto a few young werewolves, who backed away from him in fright. "How quaint, even half-breeds… I really felt quite distressed of not receiving an invitation."

He glared the Dumbledore, then at the king and queen, and then finally at the cradle. "How is it that everyone in the kingdom merited an invitation to this glorious celebration, except for me?"

The queen had gathered her courage and said, "W-we had our reasons. P-please leave at once."

"You weren't wanted!" exclaimed Charlie, standing up at once, with much distaste in his voice.

"Not wanted? Oh dear, what an awkward situation," he said silkily as the queen told her son to shush and sit down. "And here I had hoped it was merely due to some oversight. Well, if that is the case, then I'll not trespass upon your home any longer."

He turned to leave but stopped as he looked back… "But before I go… to show I have no bad feelings, I will also give the child… a _gift_."

"No!" the queen gasped, shielding the princess's cradle with her body.

"Now don't worry," he said smiling evilly as he glanced with distaste at Albus, who was now shielding the royal family with his presence as well. "You will still have a chance to give the child her blessing…" he said that one word as if it was something shameful, "But only after I give her mine… and just so you know… my gift will be one that will be given out of the kindness of my heart. However, it is also one that will never be undone."

"Leave!" the king cried at once, not liking where this was going.

But Voldemort merely laughed. "Listen closely, everyone!" he called to the silent crowd as they backed even away, as if thinking that he would curse one of them instead.

"The princess will indeed grow with charm and beauty, beloved by all who know her," he said in almost a chant. "Her hair so red that it will shame a rose's hue… skin soft and fair, and eyes that sparkle in the light. The voice she sings with shall be sweet… and she will also have a strong, fiery spirit… yet there will be a price for all this."

He grinned evilly once again… then taking his wand conquered up a black mist—rolling out towards them. Albus held up a strong magical barrier to protect them as Voldemort cried out so that no one would be able to miss it. "Little princess, I too have a gift for you. I, Lord Voldemort, the dark sorcerer give you a curse. Before the evening of your sixteenth birthday, you will prick your finger on a spinning wheel spindle… and die!" he called. Thunder crashed and people screamed.

"No!" screamed the queen as she scooped her baby up into her arms. The king stood as well, and wrapped his arms around her as the princes all stared in alarm at Voldemort; Ron now crying from all the loud noises and crashes.

"GAURDS! SEIZE HIM!" the king ordered. The guards clustered around Voldemort, but he only laughed manically, before more dark flames appeared… and when it cleared, he had disapparated away from the scene.

The queen started to cry, burying her face in her husband's shoulder, the newborn between them slowly started to whimper, having woken up from all the noise.

"Wait my queen," Minerva said coming to her at once, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Not all hope is lost… don't forget," she turned to Albus, "Albus still has a blessing to give her."

They all looked up at him as the king went to Ron and picked the crying child in his arms. He then asked the young wizard, "Then you can undo this curse, Albus?"

The young man gave him a sad look. "I'm afraid not completely, your majesty. I fear that Voldemort's powers are far too great. Milord and milady, I do not have the magic to take away such a dark curse. But maybe I can redo it somehow."

He walked forward to look at the princess as the whole family gathered around. "Little princess Ginerva…" he said softly. "I do not have the power to reverse a sorcerer's curse as evil as this one. Yet I give you this… I have no gift to give, but a blessing instead. And the blessing shall be this… should this terrible prophecy indeed come to pass and you prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel… you will not die. Instead, I give you this ray of hope. Instead of death, it will be a timeless—ageless sleep." His heart feeling heavy as to the fact that he felt he could do no more than that to protect the princess.

"In peaceful, never-ending dreams you shall lie until the day that only a kiss from your one true love will awaken you. Then you shall be free to live and love…"

It was the best that he could do. Later that night, once all the guests had left and the princes were all sent to bed, Albus and Minerva were speaking to the distraught king and queen in private.

"I am sorry," Albus said once again. "If I could remove this curse I would've… but it was the best that I could do."

"But how will we ever know who our daughter is meant to be with?" the queen cried as she rocked the softly crying baby to sleep. "You said only a kiss from her true love will break it."

"Yes," he said nodding. "Only true love was powerful enough for me to prevent this curse from killing her."

But the king, still fearful of his daughter's life, decreed that tomorrow morning, all the spinning wheels in the kingdom be destroyed. While hopeful that their daughter wouldn't die… they were determined to prevent the curse set on her by the spiteful wizard and kept everything that had to do with needles away from her. Nobody who knew the princess would be allowed to tell her of the curse that was set upon her because they didn't want her to worry.

Once Albus and Minerva left the next day, she whispered to him, "You know that this won't stop him… he'll find a way to make sure that this comes to pass."

"Yes," he answered grimly. "I have no doubt that the princess will prick her finger on the spindle as he predicted. But the kingdom will survive. I have sixteen more years to make all the preparations to ensure that."

"I only hope that they will be enough," she sighed. He reached out and clasped a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't believe this," Albus said angrily as he glanced back at the sparkling castle in the distance. "The king and queen are just heart-broken."

"There must be something more we can do…" Minerva asked him.

"You heard Voldemort, my dear, there is nothing we can do…" he sighed. "The best we _could_ do was to put the princess into an ageless sleep."

"And only a kiss from her true love will break it," Minerva repeated angrily. "But who knows how long that could take! She could sleep for the next… thousand years for all we know!"

"Possibly," he sighed. "But what else could we do?"

"But how is that fair to the princess?" she demanded. "Waking up after who-knows-how-long only to leave her in a world surrounded by people she doesn't know?"

Albus sighed. "Not quite…" he turned to her. "I neglected to tell the king and queen, but the whole kingdom will sleep as well as the princess. And they will not awaken until she does."

"But that still leaves the matter of the princess's true love," she asked. "How are we supposed to bring them together?"

"I have a plan…" he said to her. "I made a loophole in the spell. The princess will choose her love… only when she gives her heart to that person will one of her brothers awaken and bring him here."

"But which one?" she asked at once. "The oldest one is only ten…"

"I don't know," he answered. "I know it's a long shot… but still…" He shut his eyes. "I want to take this chance, Minerva. I want to see true love win."

"But how will the princess chose her love if she's asleep?" she asked as he walked a few paces faster.

For a moment, he didn't answer as he stared off at the kingdom, making his final preparations. "I'm afraid that is something only the princess can choose through her dreams. Don't worry," he said softly. "For true love conquers all."

**(Well? What do you all think so far? I got this first chapter up sooner than I thought and if people really do like it, then I'll put up the others. Please tell me your opinions on whether or not I should keep going.)**


	2. The Wish

**Chapter 1: The Wish**

And the years went by.

Princess Ginerva, or Ginny as she soon became known, grew up to be a sweet, intelligent, courageous, and inquisitive girl, with a nature as fiery as her red hair. Albus and Minerva traveled most of their time, only visiting the royal family a few days each year, but the princess had easily won their hearts.

Finally, almost sixteen years after Voldemort had cursed the princess, Albus had returned to the castle and spoke with the king. "The princess's birthday is fast approaching."

"Don't you think I don't know?" the king sighed miserably. "But we are so close… if we could only make it through the next few days…"

"Does she know about what Voldemort has done?" Albus asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Of course not," Arthur grimaced. "Like she needs that hanging over her head before she turns of age. We made it this far… I had all the spinning wheels destroyed… my daughter isn't out of the guards sights for a moment… if we can only make it through this last birthday then we are free from this worry… at least that's what me and Molly are hoping for."

"Yes, she'll be ready to marry soon?" Albus asked with his eyebrows raised.

Finally, the king chuckled. "Molly's been looking for suitable suitors for her. So far, she's not impressed by any of them. She's planning a massive party but she's worried about the curse as well. I think that she hopes that if we can find her true love here and she does fall asleep, he will kiss her and the spell will be broken right away…"

"But that will not work," Albus sighed. And at last, he told him the truth… that should the princess fall asleep, then the whole kingdom will as well. The king stared at him as he then explained, "And as for the matter of all these suitors…" Albus sighed, "Your highness… I'm afraid that it is only something that the princess will be able to decide. It has to be a kiss from the one who is destined to walk by her side—someone who will give her his heart just as she gives him hers. No one else will do…"

"I know…" the king said, gripping his thinning hair. "What should we do?"

"I set a plan up in the spell I cast," he answered at once. "The moment that your daughter falls in love, the spell I cast will wear of slightly… just enough so that one of the princes will awaken before the others and bring his sister's love here to her."

"Which one?" he demanded at once.

"I cannot say," he sighed. "Only that it will be the one most able to pull this off."

"Most likely that will be Bill," he said thinking it over. "But how can my daughter fall in love if she's asleep?"

"While she may sleep, her dreams will be the key," he answered vaguely.

"But what does that mean?" Arthur asked desperate.

"I can't give you the details of the spell," he answered sadly. "But should the princess fall asleep, she will be in a sleep so strong that it will seem like she is dead. She will be pale as death, no breath will come, and her heart will stop beating. But she will still be alive."

When the king looked horrified he went on, "Only when the moment that she chooses her soul mate will her heart beat again. The second that it does, one of your sons will awaken and venture out to find him and bring him to her. The kiss that he gives her will awaken her and everyone else in the kingdom."

After that, the two of them sat there in stunned silence for a long time.

"Father?" said a familiar voice. Both of them turned to see the princess peering through the doorway. The king beamed at the sight of his daughter. As it was predicted, Ginny's hair was so red that it embarrassed even a rose… her skin was like cream and her eyes shone in the light like twinkling stars.

But all of this only reminded the King the dangers of the curse that was bound to come.

"Father?" she repeated, until she saw who he was with.

"Oh!" she cried happily. "Sir, Dumbledore. It's been so long! Did you come for my birthday to?"

Albus smiled at her and nodded, before he made a small bow and took her hand. "I won't be able to stay the whole night I'm afraid, princess…"

"And I've told you not to call me princess," Ginny interrupted at once. "It's Ginny… nothing else."

Albus bowed his head again. "Your pardon, Ginny," he said smiling. "But as I was saying, I will be able to stay and enjoy as much as I can. So tell me… I hear that your mother is looking for suitable suitors for you?"

Ginny raised her eyebrows at her father who grinned back.

"She's been looking," she told him. "But none of them are my type. They all treat me like I'm some fragile doll or something."

"Well," Albus said nodding as he stood up straight. "I have a feeling that you will be waiting out for the right one?"

The king shot him a warning look as Ginny said, "I plan on it. If I am to marry, it will be to someone I love with all my heart. But…" she added as she gave her father a hard look. "I don't remember asking you to tell that to everyone."

"I meant nothing of it, sweetheart," he told her. "Now is there something that you need?"

"Just that I heard the guards tell the boys that you wanted to see them," she asked. "I was just wondering what it was about."

The king and Albus looked at each other. As the day of Ginny's sixteenth birthday approached, the whole castle was in a frenzy trying to prepare of the party. They had hoped with so much going on, she wouldn't have noticed that all the prince's were asked here to discuss about what would happen should the worst come to pass.

After all these years, only the two oldest princes's remembered what happened that night.

"It's just simply a matter of making sure that everything goes well for the party," Albus lied to her. "It's one of those father-son talks my dear. How about you go and find Minerva for me? I promise to tell you about it later."

She didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything as she left. Once she was out of sight, he heard the king give out a sigh. "It hasn't been easy keeping this all secret from her all this time," he said.

"While I understand that you were just trying to protect her," Albus said to him, "I am surprised that she has no idea what had happened."

"Me and her mother been taking very careful measures all these years," he answered, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "Everyone had been forbidden to tell her anything about it, she hasn't been allowed anywhere near a spinning wheel, and the guards are always watching her… but for now… let's talk with my sons."

Later that night, he called all six princes together and told them about the curse that Voldemort placed upon their sister… all of them but Bill and Charlie looked startled at the news.

"So that's the secret that you've been keeping all this time?" Fred asked, turning pale.

"I'm afraid so," his father sighed. "Now… we've made it all these years… if we can make it through just one more birthday then we won't have anything else to worry about. But should the worst happen, and your sister does go to sleep…" he glanced at Albus sadly before saying, "Only when her heart starts beating again will one of you awake."

"But which one of us?" George demanded at once, looking around at them all. "I mean…?"

"That is impossible to say," Albus admitted. "But merely that it will be one of you who is most likely to find the one your sister loves."

They all glanced at Bill who looked at them all. "What?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing," George laughed.

"Only that it's gonna be you!" Fred agreed at once. "I mean… anyone but Ron…"

"Hey!" Ron yelled at them angrily.

"Regardless of which one of you it will be," their father went on, and they all fell silent, "I want all of you to swear to me that you will bring him here. Until your sister wakes up, then the rest of us will sleep as well."

"But surly there must be a way to prevent it from happening," Charlie asked at once desperately.

"Yes," he answered at once. "According to the curse, if she pricks her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel before the evening of her sixteenth birthday she will fall asleep. We've kept a very close watch on her for years… making sure that she never came near a spinning wheel. If we can make it through her birthday, then we need not worry anymore. But should it happen, I want your word that whoever it will be, you will bring him here."

"But how will we know how to find him?" Percy asked confused.

"Albus said that he set things up," he said turning to the young man.

"Once the princess's heart beats again," Albus agreed, "One of you will awaken and leave the castle. That's when the magical protection I created will react."

"Magical protection?" Bill repeated.

"Should we be unsuccessful in preventing this from happening," Albus explained, "The castle will become surrounded by magical protections to prevent anyone from entering while you all sleep. Once one of you awakens, you must leave and bring back your sister's true love. As soon as one of you wakes and leaves the borders of the kingdom, the spells and enchantments will activate. Only someone who loves your sister with all his heart and soul will be able to reach her then."

The king looked at them all sadly, but with determination. "The future of the kingdom depends on all of you. But to ensure that nothing happens, I ask that you all keep to Ginny's side at all times until her birthday is over. I want at least one of you with her always…"

They nodded in understanding.

"We understand," Fred said at once.

"You don't need to worry at all!" George cried out, thumping his chest. "Just leave it all to us!"

And so that's how it was. Three more days had passed and finally the day the princess turned sixteen was here. The preparations were almost ready for the grand ball that night… but no one could understand why everyone in the royal family, save for Ginny, was so uneasy.

All the princes had taken what their father said to heart. They all kept Ginny in their sights at all times… if one of them had to leave, then another would stay with her until they came back. Ginny was getting frustrated that she hadn't been able to have any time to herself for the last four days.

"You know," she said grimly to Percy that afternoon, "I think I'm old enough to go to the bathroom myself!"

"Is it wrong to want to spend time with your sister on her birthday?" he asked pompously.

"No," she answered him, "But can't I also have a little bit of time to myself as well?"

"Now now," Fred said happily. "I promise that tomorrow we'll leave you alone. But why not spend time with our only sister before her party tonight?!"

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, also excited for the party. As twilight drew near, the king and queen were in the great hall, setting up the final decorations while Bill went out to great his fiancée… a young woman named Fleur.

Charlie had gone to greet several friends as Ron was drooling over the food, leaving the twins and Percy to guard Ginny.

"I have to get ready," Ginny told them in great annoyance. "I am allowed to go up and change aren't I?"

They all looked at her suspiciously before they all went up as well. As they went up to her room, she made them wait outside while she changed into the dress that her parents had given her for an early birthday present.

Heart beating fast, she pulled it out of its wrapping and gasped as she stared at it. It was a beautiful mint-green dress, trimmed with silver. At first glance, it was rather plan-looking… but as she ran her fingers over the soft fabric, she felt tears form at the wonderful gift. The long sleeves sparkled slightly as the silver glowed like liquid light… as a dark green scarf that wrapped around the waist made the whole thing look perfect in her eyes.

When she pulled it on and spun around—she loved how it flared out and moved as she did. With the green dress and her red hair, she now looked like a wild rose dancing in the wind. She let her hair hang around her—having hate to have to pin the mess up. And instead of putting on make-up, she bit down on her lips slightly to give them a little color and slapped her face gently until they took on a rosy hue.

Once she felt she was decent, she went out into the hall. She grinned broadly at the startled looks on their faces when they saw her. They stared at her as if they never seen her before… just then one of the twins got down on his knee and held out his hand to her. "Oh, fair princess!" he called out loudly. "Would you grace me with your first dance tonight?"

That was when the second twin pushed him aside playfully and cried out, "Only if you let me have the honor of your first dance!"

Ginny laughed again as they pretended to fight over her hand as Percy shook his head. "Enough! Both of you!" he yelled. "We're supposed to go down soon!"

"Oh, very well, Perce," she said grinning. "I'll let you dance with me first."

The twins laughed loudly as they all headed down together. But once they reached the fifth floor, Percy went off down to his room. "I have to change into my best clothes as well," he said self-importantly as he walked off.

Ginny rolled her eyes as the twins snorted. Honestly, just because her brother had been given the Blessing of Knowledge, he thought that he was better than the rest of them. Which suddenly reminded her of something…

"Hey, Fred, George?" she asked them. "You think that mum and dad will tell me what blessing I got?"

She frowned as her brothers shot each other a nervous look. But then it passed as Fred said dramatically, "Now, now Ginny… that's…"

"A secret!" George cried out as he grabbed her from behind. She laughed as she flung him off… and ran up a random flight of stairs like how they did when they were children. She could hear them roar with laughter as they ran behind her. Grinning from ear to ear, she ran down a corner and hid herself behind a suit of armor as she heard them run by.

Still laughing, she ran the opposite direction, enjoying freedom for the first time all week. Knowing that she still had almost an hour before she was expected to be at her party, she ran up to her secret hide-out.

Which if you think about it, wasn't very secret at all. It was a small room at the top of the tallest tower—just an old part of the castle that hadn't been used much anymore. From it, you could see the whole kingdom for miles around and then some.

The room was made from the same rough and aged stone as the rest of the castle, but the columns that held up the roof in here were elaborate with little stone rosebuds decorating them and with little cherubs carved here and there. There was only one window that was left open year-round that gave her the most perfect view that you could ask for. When she was younger, her parents had some craftsmen build a small window seat for her when she found this place as well as the carvings on the walls.

As she looked out at the beautiful spring air, she could just catch the scent of a meadow after a rain shower and jasmine coming from the grounds. She sighed as she sat on the window seat and stared out longingly at the only winding pathway that led out of the kingdom.

For as long as she could remember, she had been trapped inside this castle… she was only allowed out into the town on special occasions, or when she was able to accompany her parents on a trip. To leave the castle was a rare treat. She sighed heavy, leaning forward on the sill, her chin propped up on her arms as her elbow dug into the hard stone. Now as much as she loved her family, she wished that she just a little bit more freedom… honestly, the way they treated her… like something terrible would happen if she was out of their sight.

She was of age now! They didn't have to keep treating her like she was helpless did they? How she wished… oh wait…

She suddenly thought of something. She looked over at the only other thing in the room. A small toy chest that she and her brothers used to store all their old toys… She got up and opened it, looking for something.

She moved aside old tops, dolls, little figurines, some puppets… ah there they were!

When she had been much younger, she and her brothers would sit up here and play so long that it was dark before they were done; and they would have to try and feel their way down the stairs. After one time when Fred tripped and fell down a few flight of stairs and almost broke his neck, they kept a few candles up here just in case. She took out the smallest one and carried it over to the window so that she could light it.

It was her birthday after all… and she was going to make a wish. She lit it with some flint that they kept on the floor in the corner, and stared off into the distance, watching the sun set and the little dancing flame… wondering what to wish for.

She thought long and hard before she made up her mind. Screwing up her eyes, thinking with all her might, she blew out the candle.

*Downstairs*

"Where is that girl?" the queen grumbled as she checked the castle for her daughter. The party was about to start and still no one had seen her after she went up to change.

Just then, the king and Albus came down the stairs, in time to see the queen and Minerva walking towards them.

"Is something wrong, dear?" the king asked when he saw her looking around.

"Arthur," she said coming towards him, "Do you know where Ginny is? The party is about to start, but we can't find her anywhere."

The king went a little pale at the thought. "Where are the boys then? I asked that they keep an eye on their sister until after today."

"Oh…" she said slowly. "Well, then… I guess…"

But at that moment, Ron came over, his fingers on a dumpling. "What's happening?" he asked after a big swallow.

"Ron," Arthur said hurriedly, "Do you know where Bill and Charlie are?" Albus asked, suddenly having a very bad feeling about this.

Ron jerked his head towards the hall. "They're in there. They were watching Ginny all morning."

"And you're other brothers?" Minerva asked. Ron blinked and he swallowed his food. "Yeah, I saw Percy, Fred, and George with her now so I thought that I could eat. Why?"

"Ok," Arthur said slowly, if she was with the others then she should be alright… at least that's what he thought until he saw Percy coming down the stairs in his best clothes. "Evening all!" he called when he saw them.

"Percy," the king called. "Where is Ginny? Ron said that she was with you!"

Percy stopped. "You mean they're still not down here? I left her with the twins while I went to go and change to." He gestured to his fine clothes…

Now everyone was starting to worry.

"Ok, I want you all to help me find her," the king said at once. "I don't want her out of my sight until the party is over."

"But if she's with the twins, she'll be fine right?" Ron asked.

"I know," the queen said as she hurried past them, pulling up her dress so that she could run. "But I want my girl here where I can see her…"

*Upstairs*

Ginny watched as the little smoke left over from the flame went out before she realized that she was late. She got up from her seat when she heard the door open. She turned to see one of the servants standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you, princess," she said at once as she set down a strange contraption that she had never seen before in her life. It was very low to the ground, with a giant wheel at one end, and a tiny bundle of string on the other…

"That's alright," Ginny said as she watched the servant girl set the thing down and move strands of thread through the giant wheel. Ginny watched with great interest as she set up a small stool and began to thread the string through.

The girl noticed and smiled at her. "What is it your majesty?" she asked politely.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said walking forward a little. "But I've never seen this before. What is it?"

"Oh, it helps to create thread," the girl explained. "It was on something like this that helped to create that beautiful dress you are wearing princess."

"What's it called?" Ginny asked getting a close look at the wheel.

The girl gave a rather sinister smirk at the question, though Ginny didn't notice as she watched the wheel turn.

"A spinning wheel…" she answered darkly.

*Downstairs*

"Where is she?!" the king cried as the whole team went striding up the corridor.

"Arthur?" his wife shrieked. Missing children was an immediate cause of panic for the queen. Especially when it came to her precious daughter… "Where could she be?" her hands were clenched in desperation.

At that moment, to their relief, they saw the twins running up towards them—that is until they saw that they were alone, and were wearing identical panic-stricken looks.

"Dad!" they called when they came up to him.

"Fred! George!" he said in relief, when they came up to him. "Where is your sister?"

They glanced at each other before they looked up at him.

"We…" George said slowly, "We… lost her."

Everyone had gone very white at those words.

"What happened?" the king demanded.

"We—we were just playing around," Fred said at once, trying to explain what happened. "But… but I guess she just gave us the slip! We can't find her!"

They all looked ready to panic at those words; even Ron had dropped his bun. They all glanced at each other in horror, but Minerva said quickly, "Alright! Now think! You all know Ginny, where would she be right now?"

"Well, she's not in her room," Fred said at once. "We just checked."

"Nor downstairs," Albus said hurriedly. "But is there a place that she likes to go to a lot?"

That was what it took for them all to understand.

"Upstairs!" the queen gasped. "In the tower! She goes there all the time! She must be there."

Albus nodded. "Let's hurry before something happens."

"But it's not like there's a spinning wheel up there right?" Percy asked looking at them.

"Yes," Molly said hurriedly, hope rising in her chest. "Yes, we had all of them burned years ago… so there's nothing that we need to worry about?"

"I doubt that," Albus said quickly, fear creeping into his own heart. "We must get there now!"

*The Tower*

Ginny finished marveling the spinning wheel as she stood back and watched the girl use it. "It really is a beautiful thing," she said. "I don't suppose you could teach me to use it?"

"Oh, you don't want to spend time making thread now do you, your highness?" the girl asked lightly, as the wheel spun a little faster.

"Well, you never know," Ginny answered. "Is it that hard to learn?"

"Oh, not at all, dear," she answered, smiling at her. "To be honest, it's very easy. Do you really wish to learn it?"

Ginny nodded, but she suddenly remembered, "Oh, but not right now! I'm supposed to be downstairs!"

"But this won't take long," the girl said hurriedly. "How about I just give you a quick explanation now and then show you how to do it tomorrow?"

Ginny hesitated. While she was fascinated by this, she knew that she should really be downstairs. "I'm sorry," she answered, "But how about we learn it all tomorrow? Or even after the party?"

The girls sighed, "Very well," she answered. "I should be getting down as well." She stopped spinning and got up from the stool. "But…" she added as she looked at her. "Do you mind so terribly holding onto this little thing for a second?" she asked, picking up part of the spinning wheel that held the thread.

"This is called the spindle… would you be so kind to hold onto this for me for a moment?" she asked.

Not seeing why that would be a problem she reached forward to take it… that was when the girl grinned wickedly, and turned the spindle so that Ginny couldn't help but prick her finger on the sharp end.

"Oww!" she cried pulling away and looking at the little blossom of blood beginning to form. That was when something very strange happened. Her eyes got heavy and her limbs suddenly went numb. "What's happening…?" she asked as she stepped back, staring at the girl's sinister face—grinning with triumph.

Ginny didn't understand what was happening to her… she suddenly felt so… tired…

She staggered backwards until she hit the wall behind her, the whole world becoming foggy as her vision blurred. So… tired…

The last thing she saw was the window where the last feeble rays of light disappeared. "I'm…" she garbled, as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and slipped on the floor.

"I'm so… tired…" were the last words she said before everything went dark and her head hit the floor. She was asleep before she even went down… not hearing the mad cackling of the servant girl who caused this…

*Below them*

The group had just reached the bottom of the staircase that leaded up to the tower. Albus and Minerva were in front, hurtling themselves up the stairs when something happened.

The king next to them suddenly collapsed.

"Your highness?!" Albus cried as he looked back to see the man lying motionless on the step below him. And just like that… one by one the queen and her sons also fell—as did the servants walking the halls.

"Oh, no…" Minerva gasped as they both hurtled up the stairs, taking each step three at a time. They burst open the door at the top and standing there was a wild-looking woman with a mad glint in her black eyes.

"Bellatrix!" Minerva yelled, recognizing the woman who had sold her soul for eternal life to Voldemort. As well as spend the rest of time serving as his servant.

She grinned like a manic. "Hello…" she grinned. "It's been a long time hasn't it? I have to say, I was worried that my master's plan wouldn't work… but he predicted it right in the end didn't he? Just like always!"

"What do you mean?" Albus demanded. "And what did you do with the princess?"

"What? The little girl?" she grinned madly, staggering forward. "Why, she's right… HERE!" she stepped aside and they stared at the princess… lying face-down on the stone floor as pale as death.

The mad witch cackled as she went and jumped out the window. "No!" Albus shouted, running to the window. "You won't get away with this!" he shouted out as Minerva leaned down next to the girl. But Bellatrix had disappeared like smoke on the wind.

Hating himself, he spun around to look at the whole scene. There was a turned-over spinning wheel on the floor… as the tiny spindle lay just a few feet away from Ginny. Minerva looked up, tears in her eyes.

Albus turned to the window again, staring at the crowd. As he thought—the night that had once been filled with loud voices and music had turned as silent as the grave. "Time…" he said softly. "Has stopped here."

The moment that Princess Ginny fell asleep, so did everyone in the kingdom. All the people collapsed where they were… the horses, dogs, birds… even the fire stopped burning and fell asleep.

"Albus?" Minerva asked scared. "Why didn't we fall asleep to?"

"Because we aren't a part of this kingdom," he answered simply. "And even if we were, it wouldn't matter. As it is our magic protecting us…" he turned back to her. "But everyone is alive…"

Though that was hard to believe here as he stared down at the sleeping girl; as he predicted, she was as white as a corpse, she had no breath, and even her heart had stopped.

"But," he told himself firmly, "She's alive. And once she receives true loves first kiss, then she and everyone else will awaken."

"But Albus," Minerva said looking around her, as if hoping for a way out of this. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing," he sighed. When she stared at him, he explained. "Only true love is strong enough to break this curse. I had a feeling that this would happen… we must finish the preparations."

And so the two of them had conquered up a long bed in the room; one that had a tall headboard and beautiful drapery hanging from it at the head while they covered the princess with a blanket to make her more comfortable. But before they left the room, Albus folded the princess's hands together so that they held an enchanted rosebud between them.

When they left the room, he made the doorknob to the door disappear, replacing it with a lock instead. He then conquered up a large silver key, just like the lock, and locked the door shut. As they walked down the stairs, they moved the royal family and back downstairs before they cast the final protective charms around them.

They walked through the now silent castle… every single person they passed was sleeping. The guards, the servants, even a little mouse was sleeping—with a giant cat behind it—obviously falling asleep in mid-chase.

They left, passing all the guests that were just beginning to gather and had fallen asleep where they stood…

They walked through the town and it was no different than the rest of the castle… continuing to cast their magic; until finally they reached the wall that divided the kingdom from the rest of the world.

"Albus?" Minerva asked softly. "Is this really all we can do?"

He nodded grimly. "I don't know how long we will have to wait," he told her. "Ten, twenty… even fifty years… but there is nothing more I can do… all we can do now is protect the kingdom until the day they all awaken.

Albus sighed again and cast some more magic. And all around the kingdom, there began to grow a great hedge of thorns. And when it stopped, the wind fell, and not a leaf could be seen to stir. He used one more bit of magic to create a guard for this place before the two of them left.

And so the princess slept… as did everyone within the castle who was put to sleep. That was how it was… anyone who came near the kingdom and tried to rescue those inside were caught up in the spell as well and never seen again.

But this story of a princess, sleeping inside the castle spread throughout the land, bringing other would-be rescuers from far and wide, thinking that they could succeed… though each of them failing. Try as they might, no one could break through and enter pass the wall of thorns, to save them. And while nothing ever change or moved inside the kingdom, outside the borders, the seasons came and went and life went on in its usual way.

From time to time, a prince would come and try to force his way through, but like everyone else foolish enough to come near, were attacked by the vines protecting the castle. Eventually, the whole world slowly began to forget about this place. Knowing that no one could ever get inside…

And so the princess slept on. On and on… her face still as pale as death… the only sign that she had ever been awake was the tiny candle that still stood in the lonely window…

But then one day, almost a century later, the rosebud in her hands opened just barely so that you could see a flicker of red petals… and princess's heart began to beat once again…

The second that it did… was when youngest prince's eyes opened.

**(I finished the second chapter a lot sooner than I thought! I was really inspired by the last chapter I did and couldn't stop. I hope that you all enjoy it and thanks to everyone kind enough to review. Most of you have been asking if I was going to be writing it as the Disney's version, or Grimm's version. Well, it will be a little of both… as well as the HP universe. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can, and thanks again.)**


	3. The Chosen Prince

**Chapter 2: The Chosen Prince**

Prince Ronald had woken up so quickly and suddenly, that he didn't even realize that he had been asleep. He sat up and looked around him—seeing that he was surrounded by sleeping people. Breathing hard, he stared around until he spotted his parents a few feet away. Suddenly afraid, he crawled over to shake his father.

"Dad? Dad wake up!" but nothing happened. The King was breathing deeply, as though his dreams were too pleasant to awaken from. Biting his lip, he turned to see most of his brothers there as well. He turned to them, trying to wake them… he even slapped them hard to try and get some kind of reaction but nothing.

What happened? The last thing he remembered was running up the stairs with everyone else and…

His eyes widened as it slowly dawned on him what was going on. He got up and really paid attention to everything around him. The hall looked like it always did… only now it was covered with thick vines and closed flowers buds…

"Ginny," he muttered and stared at the grand staircase. He tried to climb the stairs, but it was now filled with thorny plants and vines that he couldn't fight his way through. Gritting his teeth, he thought back to what his father had said earlier that morning… or rather… how long had it have been?

He ran to the nearest window and gasped at the sight that he saw. Thick plants were now covering the entire kingdom like countless cobwebs. He took a step back, only to trip over one of the sleeping bodies. He tried hard not to scream and panic as he did try to grasp what was happening? Where did all these vines come from?!

And why was he the only one awake? Why now…?

He strained his memory to think back to what his father said.

"_Now… we've made it all these years… if we can make it through just one more birthday then we won't have anything else to worry about. But should the worst happen, and your sister does go to sleep… only when her heart starts beating again will one of you will wake and go off to find him."_

"_But which one of us?" George asked. "I mean…"_

"_That is impossible to say," Albus admitted. "But merely that it will be one of you who is most likely to find the one your sister loves."_

Find the one his sister loves? Who on earth was that?! And why did it have to be _him_? Why couldn't it have been Bill or Percy for crying out loud!? They would have some idea to what to do! How was he supposed to do this? He closed his eyes, forcing his brain to remember anything else. What else did they say? _"Once the princess's heart beats again," Albus agreed, "One of you will awaken and leave the castle. That's when the magical protection I created around the castle will react."_

"_Magical protection?" Bill asked._

"_Should we be unsuccessful in preventing this from happening," Albus said. "The castle will become surrounded by magical protection to prevent anyone from entering while you all sleep. Once one of you awakens, you must leave and bring back your sister's true love. As soon as he leaves, spells and enchantments will activate. Only someone who loves your sister with all his heart and soul will be able to reach her."_

Shaking, he got back to his feet and went wandering the halls. Everyone he ever knew was on the ground, sleeping as deeply as his family. He ran past them all, trying to find someone, anyone who was awake with him.

Nothing…

He was alone…

Feeling that his heart was being squeezed, he stared… the once beautiful hall was covered in thorns. He was so focused on the walls, he tripped over one of the servant girls—Lavender—but she didn't move a muscle… not that he expected her to.

"No," he whispered and felt tears burning his eyes. He didn't know how long he had been asleep but it was clearly for a long time. How was he supposed to find his sister's soul mate now? He didn't have anything to go on did he?

But he couldn't spend the rest of his life sitting on the floor either? But where was he supposed to look? He had nothing! Not even the guy's name!

But still… he got to his feet once again and headed through the front doors—having to step over all the sleeping figures. He looked up at the town. It was without a doubt creepy… nothing moved… no sound, there wasn't even a whisper of wind. It was like everything had been turned to stone and the thorns and vines took over.

It was as silent as a graveyard.

He shivered at that as he continued to walk down the cobblestone streets, trying to avoid all the deadly plantlife—while at the same time avoiding tripping over people. It looked like everyone fell asleep where they stood… dropping whatever they were doing as soon as her stupid sister pricked her finger! And stupid Percy, and the twins! Why did they let her out of their sights?!

As he continued to curse everyone and everything, he took the long walk to the gate… but when he got there, the exit and entrance to the outside world was now so covered with the plants that he couldn't even see the door anymore.

"Now what?" he yelled out, his voice echoing around him. But as soon as he spoke, his eyes grew heavy again and he felt the familiar pull of sleep over take him.

When he woke up again later, he was on the outskirts of the kingdom, just outside the doors. Unlike before, his head was pounding like he had just been beaten, and it took him a lot longer for his head to clear and he was groggy. He rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself back up.

He coughed as his vision cleared. Now what happened? One minute he was at the door, and now he was outside! Just what kind of magic was going on here?

He got shakily to his feet as he continued to stumble down the road. He was really starting to hate magic.

As he stared walking, he only began to notice what he was doing. He was walking out into the world with no food, no money, not even a horse to ride! What was he thinking? He stopped where he was as the whole situation washed over him. He was on his own… trying to find someone he didn't know to save his kingdom with nothing but the clothes on his back. So far, he was really blowing it.

What else could he do? Just hoping that it would be ok, he kept going.

*Three Days Later*

And that was how it was for the next three days. He walked along the dirt road… his stomach roaring with hunger, and he would try to find shelter under a tree or rock at night—hugging his cloak around him. Sometimes he would get lucky and find berries or fruit trees… but no people. He was starting to think that he was all alone in the world… the only survivor. Was it possible that the curse had spread and covered everywhere?

While he knew that was stupid, he couldn't help but feel like that. He was stuck on a never-ending journey, he just knew it.

At least until on the morning of the fourth day… he was so tired, hungry, covered in filth from head to foot, and his clothes were smelly and torn. But today, the sun was hot and it was starting to get to him. As he raised a hand, trying to cover his eyes from the bright rays, and the other one tugged at his collar. But that was when he lost his footing on the uneven road and went tumbling down the side of a hill.

Head over heels he rolled, hitting himself on bumps and stones. With no control he covered his head as he rolled—hoping that it would end soon. And it did.

SPLAT!

He came to a stop in a patch of mud. Coughing and spluttering, he spat out the mud in his mouth, and tried to wipe his eyes clean.

"Oh, my goodness!" cried a voice. "Are you alright?!"

Ron almost jumped out of his skin at the voice. He rolled over onto his butt, still trapped in the muck… while looking up at a very pretty girl with thick, brown hair and beautiful brown eyes looking back at him with concern.

He didn't answer her. He was just so happy to see someone else, someone awake, that he couldn't have cared less. He almost got up and hugged her, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't appreciate that.

Instead, he focused on staring at her.

The girl was in a long and very plain work dress, carrying a large bucket with her. She was barefooted, her hair flying away from a sloppy ponytail, and she was covered in a light covering of dirt. She looked like a peasant girl.

She put down her bucket, and went trampling through the mud without a second thought and took his hand to pull him up to his feet.

"I asked if you're ok?" she repeated once he was standing again.

"Y-yes," he croaked, having no one to talk to for days, his ears were almost hurting even just hearing her soft tone.

"Oh, you're a mess," she tutted as she pulled him away. "Look, why don't you come in a clean up? We'll get that mud off in no time."

Leaning heavily on her, he could only nod.

"What's your name?" the girl asked as she picked up her bucket, and Ron was able to see that it was full of grain; she was obviously feeding animals. And now that he looked around, he saw that they were on a small farm. He could see a few chickens pacing the yard, a small hut connected with a tiny stables. And to his horror—there were several pigs heading over to the mudpit that he just climbed out. The back garden contained a stone outhouse behind the main house was a large, overgrown garden with a pond full of frogs. And he could just see a large orchard behind their garden, which was surrounded by high trees.

"Hello?" the girl clicked her tongue impatiently, obviously thinking that he was slow or something. What should he tell her?

"Ron," he answered simply. "My name's Ron."

"Ron then," the girl answered as she stopped for a moment, so that she could take several handfuls of grain and tossed it to the chickens that were following them. "Ok," she went on as if nothing happened. "I have a friend who should be able to lend you some clothes… though you're so tall… you don't mind do you? I guess I could loan you some of my father's clothes, but they might not do so well either. But we'll, at least, get you cleaned up."

She set the bucket down by the front door before she led him inside. It wasn't anything special. It was small, but looked cozy and lived in, with a jumbled and cluttered array of furniture and trappings. There was a large fireplace where a boy about his age was tending to the roaring fire.

"Oh, good," the boy said, his back to them. "I just wanted to tell you that I got all the wood chopped and I started the fire for you to. You should be…" but when he turned, he blinked in surprise.

"What happened?" he asked at once, staring at Ron's muddy figure, "Who are you?"

"Really," the girl snapped at him as she helped Ron into one of the chairs. "You normally have such good manners. I found him outside when he fell into the hog pit."

The boy smiled very slightly as he looked at him. "You fell in?" he asked. When Ron nodded, he was glad that the mud as covering the red blush of humiliation. The guy laughed as he got up from the floor. "Don't worry," he reassured him. "I've fallen in a few times myself… here's some advice, always look where you leap."

Ron had to fight back a laugh, feeling a little better already. Glad to be able to smile again.

"Do you have any extra clothes that he could borrow?" the girl asked him, disappearing into a back room. "I'll get some water ready."

"Ah," her friend said, thinking it over as he brushed the fireplace ash off his hands. "Yeah… I think I might…?"

"Oh, why don't you go up to my parents room and get some of my dad's old clothes instead?" she called as he heard water splashing. "It's only for a little while, oh, and thanks for helping me with the firewood."

The boy merely waved his hand as he went running upstairs. The girl shook her head fondly as she came out.

"He's got a free spirit, but he's a marvel around the house," she laughed as she gave him a chair to sit in as she went over to put a pot over the fire. "I hope you're hungry. We've got plenty…"

Just at the word food, his stomach grumbled loudly and the girl laughed. "I take that as a yes?"

"Ah… yeah," he said uncomfortably. And then, trying to think of something to say he asked, "So… was he your brother? Or your husband?"

The girl looked at him startled before she laughed again much louder than before. "Neither!" she chortled. "No, he's just my friend. We've been friends since we were kids. Our parents had been friends for years and we all live here together. This is a big farm, and it's hard for just several people to take care of it."

"What about your parents?" he asked, looking around. "Where are they?"

"Oh, they're out on a long journey," she sighed grimly. "See, they're at the Hogsmeade Market. They go there to sell things we grow here. It's the best place they can get money."

"Hogsmeade Market?" Ron repeated startled.

The girl looked up at him from where she knelt over the fire with disbelief on her face. "Don't play around," she told him. "You know… the market? It's a big market that takes place once a year? People from all over go there to sell and buy?"

"I'm not playing," Ron stuttered defensively.

She stared at him as if she thought that he was crazy. "Did you… hit your head or something when you fell in the mud? How can you _not_ know about it?"

"Not know what?" asked a voice and he looked up to see that the black-haired boy was back with a pile of clothes in his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"He says that he doesn't know about the market," she told him quickly.

He stared at him just as the girl did and he was getting annoyed. "I'm sorry," he told them. "But I'm… I'm not from around here."

"I guess," the boy answered as he put the clothes down on the table.

"Because everyone knows here," the girl said in a hurried voice. "But really, were you under a rock or something not knowing about it?"

"Ok," the boy shushed her as Ron was feeling more annoyed every second. "We can ask him questions later. We'll let him change and clean up shall we?"

"Look," Ron said at once, "Thanks for helping me. And I'm sure starving, but before we go any further, can I at least know your names?"

The girl blinked in surprise before she realized that they still didn't tell him that. "OH! I'm so sorry," she said, standing up straight. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Hermione… and this here…" Hermione said, looking at her green-eyed, black-haired friend, "Is my friend Harry…"

**(Yea! We finally find Harry and Hermione! In this story, Harry still has his parents and Hermione is his best friend! What do you all think?)**


	4. A Peasant's Life

**Chapter 3: A Peasant's Life**

"Hermione and Harry?" Ron repeated before he nodded to them both. "Thanks again… I've been traveling for the last few days, and I haven't met anyone else on the road."

"Well, that's because the harvest season is over isn't it?" Hermione asked as she went back to the fireplace. "Harry? Could you get some of the vegetables in the cellar? I'll try and cook some mushrooms and…"

"How about I cook?" Harry asked as he showed Ron into the room that Hermione just came out of so that he could change in peace. "And you can go get them?"

The last thing Ron heard before Harry shut the door was Hermione snapping at him, "What? You don't think I can cook?"

Ron found a large tub that was full of water, obviously the bathroom and he quickly took a bath before he changed into the clean clothes, so glad for them… and to get out of his now ruined garments. As he shook out his red hair, he thought more to his journey. What should he tell them? It's not like he could come right out and tell them that he had been sleeping for who-knows-how-long and only woke up a few days ago so that he could find his sister's soul mate could he?

As he slowly smelled the delicious scent of stew cooking, he came up with a plan. He would tell them that he came from far away and that he was just traveling this way. And then he would causally bring up the question about his home… he would just ask if they knew about it and how long it had been cursed…

At long last, he came out, feeling better than he had in days and saw that Hermione had disappeared, but Harry was still there, now stirring whatever was in the pot. He looked up at him when he answered and explained, "She tries hard… but cooking just isn't one of her strong points."

Ron grinned. "You seem alright though?"

Harry laughed. "Well, one of us had to learn," he said. But then his expression darkened. "But is what Hermione said true and that you don't know anything about the market? It's the biggest thing around these parts. People from all over come to trade and sell."

"Ah…" Ron stuttered. "No… I've only been traveling for a little while, and I've never been to this country before. I'd been traveling this way for about four days now."

"From where?" he asked, but before he was able to think of an answer Harry just shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry," he told him as he added some salt to the stew. "It's none of my business. I know a lot of people who wouldn't like talking about things they rather not talk about. It's just strange meeting someone who doesn't know what's happening around these parts."

Ron sat in one of the kitchen chairs and asked, "No, it's ok. I'm grateful for you guys helping me. See…" he hesitated, as Harry looked up. "I'm looking for someone who could help my family, and I've got nothing to go on."

"Man," Harry said, standing up. "That sounds like it would suck."

Ron laughed as Harry looked at him hard. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Oh, ah… Ron," he said. "Just Ron."

Harry frowned slightly at the name. "What?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing," Harry assured him. "It's just that I think I heard that name somewhere before… I'm trying to think of where."

Ron didn't like where he was going with this and quickly asked, "So… what are you making?"

"Just some stew," he answered calmly. "Hermione's outside with Crookshanks."

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Her cat, Crookshanks," Harry answered, stirring the pot. "He's in the barn… he got into a fight with a dog the other day and he's recovering in there."

"You talking about me?" said the now familiar voice. Hermione walked in and quickly shut the door behind her as she brushed pieces of hay out of her hair.

"How's the cat?" Harry asked, taking a quick taste of lunch before adding some more salt.

"He's doing a lot better," Hermione said as she slumped over in another chair, opposite of Ron. "Don't know what he was thinking when he fought that wild dog. He's lucky he didn't get his throat ripped out."

"Well, this should cheer you up!" Harry called happily. "Food's almost ready!"

"Can I help?" Ron asked, feeling that it was the least he could do.

"You can help set the table if you want," Hermione said at once as she led him over to the cupboard as Harry took the pot off the fire.

It was by far one of the most wonderful things he'd ever tasted. Even better than the food from the feasts that his parents had. His stomach was almost singing at the end as he moaned into the brew.

"Sounds like you haven't had a warm meal in a long time," Harry said, noticing his blissful face. "That, or I'm a better cook than I thought I was."

"It's wonderful," he muttered, trying to get another mouthful, even though his cheeks were already full.

"I'll take it a compliment," Harry laughed.

"So, Ron," Hermione asked as she buttered some bread. "You said that you were looking for someone?"

Ron stopped, his next spoonful halfway to his mouth.

"Ah, yeah," he muttered carefully. "See, my ah… mother," he said, thinking fast, "Told me to bring an someon back home, but to be honest, I ran out before I even got a name or know what he looks like."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise, "So… what? All you know is that he's out here somewhere?"

"Pretty much," Ron muttered. As he watched his two new friends look at each other, as if worried for him, he then changed the subject. "Look… while I was travelling, I went passed a kingdom that was covered with thorns. Do either of you know it?"

Now he was getting somewhere, judging from the started looks on their faces.

"Oh, you've seen the Kingdom of Thorns?" Hermione asked. "You don't get to many people facing that place anymore."

"Why?" Ron asked, hoping that he didn't sound too eager. "What's its story?"

"You must come from far away if you don't know about it," Harry answered as he swallowed. "See, a long time ago it used to be a peaceful kingdom. Until it was cursed."

"We don't know for sure what the whole story is," Hermione said, "But according to the legend, there was a princess who lived there."

Ron's hands twitched slightly as he listened.

"They say that the princess was cursed since the moment she was born," Hermione said. "And that the day she turned sixteen she fell into a deep enchanted sleep."

"And the moment that she did, so did everyone else," Harry finished for her. "After that, thorns grew up around the kingdom and time froze inside it."

"And…" Ron said slowly as he gulped. "How long ago was it?"

Hermione thought it over for a moment. "About a hundred years ago I think."

Ron dropped his spoon as he stared at them in horror. A hundred years? He thought that they'd only been asleep for a few months at least. But a hundred years? He suddenly felt a little dizzy. Luckily, they seemed to take his shock for a different reason.

"Yeah, that's something right?" Harry asked.

"But why hasn't anyone been in there to try and help?" Ron asked at once.

"Well, they've tried," Hermione said. "But with the thorns attacking anyone who gets to close and the guard there—no one's been able to."

"Attack them?" Ron asked. "And guard? What guard? I didn't see anything."

"Well," Harry said looking up a little suspicious. "The thorns and vines only attack if you get to close to the wall. And as for the guard, no one knows for sure what it is. Just that there's some kind of monster guarding the front doors as well.

"But the story of the sleeping princess has spread everywhere," Hermione informed him. "A lot of prince's and knights have tried to save her, but they've all failed before they even got into the city. Once in awhile someone would go and try their luck…"

"But then they're either sent back running with their tails between their legs, or they get eaten by whatever guards the place," Harry finished up. "And so no one's been able to get in since then. But this is all that we know."

"The real story might be something different," Hermione went on. "After all, anyone who could tell us has been asleep."

"Well, except for old Dumbledore," Harry reminded her.

Ron almost spilled hot soup on him. "Dumbledore?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "The old wizard. Now I can tell you heard of him?"

"He's always been so kind to us," Hermione smiled. "He was even here to give us our blessings when we were born. They say that he and his assistant Minerva were the only ones who knew the whole story."

"So…" Ron said slowly, "He's still here?"

"He's getting on in years, but he's still alive if that's what you mean," Harry said as he finished his meal. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I need to see him," Ron stuttered. They both looked at him in surprise. "I think that he might be able to help me…" he went on. He wanted to tell them the truth, but how could they without them thinking he was crazy?

He looked pleadingly at them both before they looked at each other. "Well," Hermione said slowly. "If you stay here, I'm sure that you'll meet them eventually. They come by once in awhile. They're friends of our parents and stop here to check in on us from time to time."

"Yes," Ron said pleadingly. "Can you let me stay here until then? I swear I'll help out with whatever you need. I just need to speak to him."

"Well, it's alright with me," Harry said carefully. "And we could always use another pair of hands right?"

"Alright," Hermione said and Ron sighed in relief. This was his only chance…

"But just remember," Hermione told him as she carried the bowls outside so that she could wash them. "Starting tomorrow you'll going to be helping us out and it's not going to be easy."

They let him use a spare bedroom while they also went to their own rooms. It felt that it had been a year since he slept in a comfortable bed… but then again, it had been a hundred years! He still couldn't believe it. Was it possible that they were only kidding? But then again, why would they? He laid there in bed, thinking over everything that had happened. Right now he only felt anger towards his sister.

Why did she have to go and prick that spindle? But as his anger grew he also realized that it wasn't her fault. After all, she didn't ask for that curse to be cast on her did she? He also felt a deep anger inside for himself as well now… why didn't he keep a closer watch on her? These thoughts continued to torture him until he fell asleep. The last comforting thought was once he met Dumbledore, he'd fix it… at least that's what he thought.

*The next morning*

It felt that he just fallen asleep when suddenly someone pulled the warm blankets out from under him and he ended up hitting the wooden floor with pain.

"OW!" he yelled as he rubbed a sore spot on his side. "Why dyou—" he began but Harry's voice answered, "It's time to get up!"

Ron glanced up at Harry to see that he was fully clothed, and wide awake. Ron stared at him before he went to the windows and pushed the shutters open. It was still dark out.

"Harry!" he yawned. "It's not even morning!"

"Yes, it is," Harry answered. "The sun will be up soon and we have a workload of chores to do."

"Can't you just hire someone else to do all this?" he gasped as he rubbed his exhausted eyes.

"That's what you're here for?" Harry asked, he didn't seem surprised that he was being so disagreeable. "Besides, that would take money, which we don't have a lot of. You said that you were willing to help out with anything here to earn your keep right?"

Ron grumbled as he hunted around for some of the spare clothes that they gave him. "When I took this job, I didn't know I had to wake up at some unearthly hour in the morning."

Harry smirked good-naturedly. "You get used to it. Come on. We'll have a quick breakfast before we get to work."

Once Ron was fully dressed, he marched downstairs grumpily, he could see that there were hot bowls of porridge on the table and he took his seat. "So… what do I have to do?"

"Help take care of the animals and in the fields," Hermione told him. "We've been having some particularly bad winters over the last couple years, and we need to get the fields ready for next year. You couldn't have come at a better time."

Ron just glowered into his food as he ate. Now while he and his family lived in luxury, dad always made sure that they made themselves useful and work also. But even his father never made him get up this early and work in the fields.

Once they were done, the two of them led him outside. They walked to the small barn and he glanced in to see a couple cows, two or three sheep, and two horses—one of which was particularly fat. Hermione walked over to a bundle of hay and when she pushed it aside, he could see a ginger-colored cat with a squashed face looking up at her.

He let out a loud meow. "How are you feeling, Crookshanks?" she cooed at him as Harry walked into one of the stalls, carrying a bundle of hay to each of the animals in turn.

"He'll live," he told her once he reached the fat horse. "It's this girl here that I'm worried about."

"Your horse?" Ron asked as Harry began stroking the horse's nose gently.

"She's due any day now," he told him. For a minute, Ron wondered what he was talking about before he understood.

"She's having a baby?" he asked.

"That's what I said right?" he asked with a smile as continued to pet her. "Her name's Hedwig. Had her ever since she was a foal. Anyway, this is what we start off with."

He handed the hay to him and showed him how to feed them all. "They eat three times a day. But we don't give them too much at every meal because if we fed them every time they got hungry then we'd run out of food in a week."

"It's just enough to keep them healthy and happy," Hermione said as she stroked the cat's fluffy head in a loving way. Once they were done here, Hermione covered Crookshanks up with hay again. "You get some sleep now, Crookshanks!" she told him and Ron suddenly envied the cat. He wished he could go back to sleep.

Hermione then picked up the same pail of grain that she had yesterday and walked out to show him how to feed the chickens while Harry milked the cow. Something that Ron was quite glad not to have to do himself.

Feeding the chickens was quick and easy—something he wished he could say for the hogs. According to Hermione, they will eat anything… but making their food was disgusting to say the least. He had to hold his nose as they carried the food out in pails and dumped it into a trough in their pen.

"What's surprising is that pigs are actually pretty clean animals," Hermione told him as the fat hogs came over. That was something he found hard to believe as the mud-covered beasts lumbered over and stuck their faces into the slop.

Hermione laughed at his facial expression. "I'm guessing that you came from a rich family?"

"W-what?" Ron stuttered.

She grinned. "Well, we peasants work all day long every day… while the royals and nobles don't have to lift a finger."

"Hey!" he said loudly, his ears burning in anger. "My parents made me work long and hard to you know!"

"But you certainly are not a morning person," she answered as she grabbed one of his hands and examined them.

"What are you looking at?" he demanded.

"Harry said that he noticed that your hands didn't have any blusters or callused on and he was right," she said as she showed him her own. They were dirty and looked rough—hands that looked used to hard work.

"We lowly peasants have been forced to work for a living," she told him sadly. "It's not easy, but we are good at taking care of ourselves. Especially the kids who have to do the work all by themselves."

"But you'll learn quickly," called Harry's voice. Ron turned to see him leading the cow behind him. "We'll get to work on the fields now. I finished chopping the wood yesterday. It should last us a while."

"Great," she told him. "And you put the milk inside the house right?"

Harry rolled his eyes in amusement. "Always do."

She nodded as she walked passed him. "Well," Harry said as he led him to a plow behind the house. "Today, you'll learn how to plow with us."

"What's Hermione doing?" Ron asked.

"She's going inside to finish pickling some vegetables," Harry explained. "But we'll let her deal with that. I'll show you how to work this thing."

He showed Ron how to hook the cow—called Rita—to the plow and everything else. It was hard work. He had originally thought that the cow did all the work, but boy was he wrong. They kept walking up and down in a straight line, turning up the earth. He and Harry kept switching whenever one of them got tired. The thing was, for every one yard that he did, Harry did at least five yards.

By the time the sun rose, Ron was dripping in sweat and only halfway done.

"You're doing really well for your first time," Harry said encouragingly. Ron had to restrain himself from calling Harry something unpleasant. But onwards they worked until they finally finished when the sun had fully risen and was starting to cross the sky.

Harry wiped his bangs out of his eyes. "Well, that's great," he said happily. "Hopefully we'll have one heck of a harvest next year."

Not too soon, Hermione came out with two tall cups of water for them. Ron drank greedily but Harry took causal sips as he and Hermione talked.

"I finished mopping up the floor," she told him. "But the gate is practically falling apart and I think we should get that fixed."

Ron almost choked. "You mean that there's _more_ work?"

"What did you expect?" Harry asked teasingly. "Peasants work hard just to make it through the rest of the day. Don't worry. I think you can call it a day. We'll fix the gate tomorrow."

Ron sighed in relief as he walked back to the house.

"Where're you going?" Harry called.

"Back to bed!" he shouted out, not caring that he heard the two of them chuckling.

*Two weeks later*

And so that was the prince's life for the next fortnight. He would be forced to get up early and help with the chores. But after awhile, he had been forced to get used to it. He would get up and eat the quick, but filling breakfast as he then went out into the fields with Harry and work. He just kept telling himself that it was all worth it… that soon Dumbledore would come and have him fix everything… he just had to live until then…

He slowly started to enjoy the long talks with Harry and Hermione as he helped out. He and Harry soon became really good friends. Harry was very patient with him, much more than Hermione was anyway, and they would talk about the dumbest things as they worked long hours in the fields or helped take care of the animals.

"And then my brother Fred stuck a piece of silver into Percy's roll one day and Percy almost broke his tooth on it!" Ron would tell him and Harry burst out laughing.

"What he do?" he asked eagerly as he hammered nails into the rickety old fence—finally finishing up fixing it like they promised Hermione.

"He couldn't do anything but give him a stern talking to," Ron snorted. "He wanted to show our dad that he was grown up. But he looked ready to kill!"

They both laughed as Hermione came out with the usual cups of water.

"I think we really should head out to the village tomorrow," Hermione told them once they took the cups from her. "It's been a long time, and we're really starting to run low on supplies."

"What village?" Ron asked between gulps.

"It's up a little ways," Hermione told him. "It's nothing special. But we go there for anything we can't get ourselves. You know, like medicine just in case. I think we should pay a visit tomorrow. Once we're done with our work, we can go."

"Sounds fine," Harry answered. "We've been stuck here for so long, I think that we're…" he let out a loud yawn. "G-going crazy here."

Ron gave him a surprised look.

"What?" Harry asked him.

"Nothing," he answered. "But… I thought that you didn't get tired."

Hermione tutted and they laughed. "Really, Ron. He's only human…" but she shot Harry a strange look before she turned back to the house and said that she'd cook dinner tonight.

Both boys gave each other knowing looks and raced each other to the house, trying to stop her.

**(Yeah, another chapter down already. And for those of you who have been bugging me about the dreams, you have to wait until next chapter.)**


	5. Sweet Dreams

**Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams**

Harry had gone to bed early that night after a round of laughter around the dinner table. He had quickly grown to enjoy Ron's company… it had been a long time since he had a good laugh. He went to bed wondering if he would have normal dreams for once or…?

He shook his head hard. _'Stop it,'_ he told himself. He tried to empty his head of all thoughts and dream without dreams tonight. Because seeing _her_ wasn't helping with his life.

Who was her? For a long time now, he had been having very strange dreams… they started happening about a year ago… when a girl would appear… a girl he didn't even know.

He sighed as he shut his eyes and laid his head on the pillow and was asleep in no time. But then…

'_Oh, no…'_ he thought as he opened his eyes to see that he was in the middle of a forest. _'That dream again…'_

_He looked around him, the tall enchanting trees towered over him as a gentle breeze of wind blew through his hair and clothes. He could hear birds chirping and knew that she would be here. He got up from where he laid and started wandering aimlessly through the trees, wondering how long it would take before he found her… what she was doing now. As he walked, he couldn't help but remember the first time he saw her. _

_About a year ago, he went to bed and dreamt of this very same forest. He had wandered through the trees for what felt like hours until he finally saw someone. It was a young woman standing among the trees looking so sad and lonely that he had to go up and talk to her._

_But back to the present, he was ducking through the trees, looking around for his friend… and finally he spotted her there. A girl with beautiful red hair and brown eyes sitting underneath a large tree, as if waiting for someone; she glanced up when she heard him coming and smiled when she saw him. _

"_You came back," she asked as he came up to her. This was what she said whenever he came to her. _

"_I always do," he told her teasingly and she smiled brightly at him. He took his seat next to her and asked her, "So what's your name?"_

_She chuckled sadly. "I can't remember. You know that."_

_This time, it was his turn to laugh. "Never know when you might remember," he told her as she raised her eyebrows at him. He looked down at her lap to see that she had been weaving something from the grass. He merely sat back and watched as she exhaled wearily and her fingers relaxed around the grasses she held cradled in one palm. _

_Her long arched neck ached and her tense back ached from staying folded in the same position for such long hours that seemed to stretch on much longer than they ought to have done. She had the energy of a warrior spirit… he knew her well enough that her energy wanted to be free and untamed, leaping her onto treetops. _

_But she was also so gentle as she handled the project in her lap so delicately that he had no worries that it would break. "Do you remember when we first met?" he asked her and she gave him another beaming smile._

_He remembered as if it had been yesterday. It had been after he had fallen asleep after a particularly hard day working with his father in the field. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and he was suddenly in this beautiful place._

_He had walked on for so long that he was beginning to feel that he was trapped when, all of a sudden, he heard crying. He followed the sound of tears to the very girl next to him. She had been underneath a tree and continued to cry. _

_She looked so unhappy that he called out to her. But as soon as she heard his voice however and looked up to see him, she got up and ran. _

"_H-hey wait!" he had yelled and ran after her. He could only see the image of red hair as she disappeared into the trees. He pushed his way through the plant life, trying to follow—but he felt like he was just wandering around in circles. When he thought that he would never find her again, he heard her scream and ran on ahead. He remembered how he had burst through a clearing and spotted her… she had been trapped by thorns and vines, attempting to drag her into a deep pit._

_He looked around him for something—anything—and then he spotted a rock with a jagged edge. It wasn't a knife, but it would do. He grabbed it before he charged forward and hacked the thorns in the process, trying to pull the girl to safety… _

_But the plants kept coming. He grabbed her hand and pulled her as far away as he could. She kicked out at the vines, and with one more pull, Harry had been able to get her free. He took her hand and pulled her away from the pit, deep into the forest until they were out of breath. Once they were away… the girl looked up at him._

"_Thank you…" she said in a soft voice… and that was when he woke up, his father telling him that it was time to get to work._

"_I remember," the girl told him as she smiled. "I had been so alone for so long, I wasn't used to seeing people. I thought that you were going to hurt me…"_

"_Must've been pretty boring here," he asked and she nodded grimly. _

"_I hated it," she told him sadly. "I don't usually cry, but I was just so upset that day…"_

_Harry nodded. While he knew that his friend was strong, she must've been stuck here for a long time to cause her to be reduced to tears like that._

_With a gentle yawn and the encroaching of sleep, the girl picked up her project to weave the leafy herbs into it. She worked out the tough kinks found in the thickly veined vegetation and was kept awake more by the stringent, spicy smell of the medicinal mash than by the pain in her joints. Even the woody scent of the forest, which always smelled warm with sun by that time of day as if heavy with memories of the forest had grown up, was drowned beneath the powerful smell, as was the cool and earthy scent of the stones made them both tired._

"_What are you making?" he asked her._

"_Just something to do," she answered. "There's nothing to do but wait for you to come and tell me about your day."_

_Harry laughed as he stretched out on the warm grass and told her all about how Hedwig was going to have her foal soon, how they worked on the fields and other chores around the farm, and how they were planning on going to the village for supplies tomorrow._

"_Don't you ever leave?" he asked her and she gave him a sad look. "I've told you that answer before. I try… but for some reason I can't. It's like I just can't escape. And no matter how hard I try, I can't remember anything from before I got here… only that I've been alone here for a long time."_

_He sighed. "I know I can't do anything… I'm not even sure it's real… but I wish that I could help."_

_Ginny smiled and delicately ran a finger along an orbed blossom of a yellow flower that was growing at the foot of the tree._

_"This is a Daffodil," she told him as he looked at it._

"_And what's it for?" he asked to amuse her._

_"Well," she started to say, going back to her work as she talked. Almost nonchalantly she told him, "You give that flower to someone when you want to make a confession you're too afraid to make. Sometimes you can give it to someone to let them know you're apologizing for something, but mostly you give it to someone when you want to tell them you really, really like them. And you hope that they will return your feelings."_

_He smiled as he looked up at the blue sky through the treetops. And while these dreams were confusing he had also grown to love these long talks._

"_Oh, and we have a new helper around the farm," he told her. "His name's Ron… he's been with us for a little while."_

_The girl looked up. "Ron?" she asked._

"_Yeah," he told her, propping up on his elbow to look at her._

"_That name sounds familiar," she said thinking it over. "Or… maybe not." She sighed. She looked at him and asked if he could tell her anything else._

"_I don't know why you like hearing me talk about chores all the time," he told her._

"_Because it's something different," she told him. "Nothing changes here. Please?"_

_He smiled at her again and went into more details. She didn't say a word as she worked, but he could tell she was listening. So he told her. He explained that with winter coming, they were working on fixing the fence, taking care of their trees and fed the animals. It was funny that she seemed so fascinated by all of it. When he finished she asked, "And why do you come here?"_

_He shrugged. "I don't know. It's all a dream and I can't control my dreams."_

"_But…" she said, reaching out to touch his wrist. "It all feels so real."_

_He understood what she meant. He could feel it… the slightly warm and soft hand felt so real on his skin… as if she was touching him for real._

"_But what other explanation is there?" he asked. _

_She shrugged as she finished her project. "What is that?"_

_It was a beautiful green blanket. "Just something to do to keep me busy," she said. "I've got nothing but time here to learn how to do it."_

_He smiled. "Ah… yeah… it's really good." He never was good at this._

_But she knew what he was thinking. She looked up at him one more time before she said softly—the same thing she said whenever it was almost time to leave—"Come back soon…"_

And sure enough, Harry opened his eyes to see that he was back in his room.

**(Ahh… what do you think about this? I hope that it was worth the wait.)**


	6. Not so Noble Meeting

**Chapter 5: Not so Noble Meeting**

Harry ran his hand through his messy hair as he glanced at the open window at the slowly lighting sky. "That dream again…" he sighed as he sat up, unable to get the sweet floral scent of that forest out of his nose.

He then heard a knock on the door and he looked up in time to see Hermione stick her head in. "Oh," she said. "I thought that you were already up."

"I was just getting up," he yawned and rolled out of bed.

She frowned before she asked, "Did you have that dream again?"

"What makes you think that?" Harry asked as he looked under his bed to pull out his shoes.

"You're never tired unless you didn't get much sleep…" she answered knowingly as she walked in. "You were looking tired yesterday, and you're still having trouble getting up."

He sighed. He regretted ever telling Hermione that he had been having these dreams. "Yeah… I had it. It's always the same… but different too. I mean, I'm always someplace with that girl there. But the way we talk is always different." He sighed again and brushed his hair out of his face. "I don't know… I've been dreaming of her, but I don't know who she is…"

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed with him. "Maybe you could talk to Dumbledore the next time that he comes by?"

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing…" he told her. "So I'm a little bit tired once in awhile. I'm fine."

The truth was he didn't want these dreams to stop and he was keen to know more about that strange girl in his dreams. He noticed Hermione's worried face and he said, "Look… you said so before plenty of times that there just dreams. So I'm dreaming of talking with a pretty girl. What male on earth doesn't? Hermione…"

She hesitated before she nodded slowly. "I guess. But…" she added looking up at him, "If they get any stranger will you tell Dumbledore? Because something tells me that these dreams aren't just dreams."

Harry nodded, though he hated lying to her.

She got up and walked over to the window to look out at the empty fields. "It's strange that it's already been a month since they left, huh? I'm missing Mum and Dad so much."

"Someone had to stay and look after the farm," Harry said, looking through a trunk for some clothes.

Hermione nodded before she said, "And then there's Ron…"

"What now?" Harry asked, holding a shirt and some pants.

"Doesn't he seem strange to you?" she asked.

Harry nodded back. "Yeah. You can tell that he came from a really rich family, but he's doing a lot of work here. Not like any noble I've ever met."

"Where do you think he came from?" she asked, looking back at him. "I mean, if his family was rich, then why wasn't he carrying any money with him?"

Harry had wondered about that too. What fool travels without even a small sum? But whenever he asked Ron about his family, he would change the subject and tell him about some funny story that one of his brothers did, but he never told him where he was from or why he was here. And why did he want to see Dumbledore so badly?

"I don't know," Harry said. "But we made a deal with him. Hopefully, when Dumbledore gets here, we'll get some answers."

Hermione suddenly laughed. "You know on the first day that we met him, he asked if you were my husband."

Harry snorted. "And what did you tell him?"

"That we were only friends," she answered as she looked at him long and hard. "But you know that I do love you?"

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Just as I love you… but not in a romantic way I hope you mean?"

"Of course," she told him firmly. "Any girl would be lucky to have you… but I just don't have any special feelings for you. Except that you're my brother. But who knows? Maybe you can marry that dream girl of yours."

Harry chortled as he went looking for his clothes. "I'll keep that in mind. Why don't you go and get Ron? I'm sure that he'll want to go into town as badly as we do."

Hermione left as he continued to laugh. The idea of waking up with Hermione as his wife was just too strange to him. But it was fun to laugh at.

*Later*

"Look, how far can we be from this town?" Ron asked for what felt like the hundredth time. He had asked this question so often that the other two were becoming annoyed quickly.

"We keep telling you that it's not that far," Hermione snapped as the horse tossed his head a little, making the small wagon shake slightly. They had locked everything up and hooked up the wagon to a horse named Errol, and had left early that morning. They had been heading along the lonely dirt road, with Ron was looking around at all the green fields and the bright blue sky.

Hermione giggled. "You would think that you never been outside before."

Ron blushed as he sat back down. "Watch it," he muttered. "My parents are just the overprotective kind."

Harry laughed as he shook the reins a little and they went on. They travelled a long ways, through all the green fields and through a tiny wood until they could see the edge of the town.

The town seemed to be more at ease and happier at this fact—even the children seemed to be out playing ball in the streets. Matter of fact, a small group of these kids had started to kick it around as they rode up.

A horse suddenly neighed nearby, rebelling against its owner and making tons of noise. He paused to glance at the horse, until it back under control, and then looked on down the path. He saw how the path widened out and a few houses could be seen. In no time at all, they were riding through the outer circle of the village. These houses were much larger than the huts Harry was accustomed to, and he marveled at the brightly colored banners that hung from the windows. The streets were crawling with people of different shapes, colors, and status. Merchants called out their wares to the prospective customers while some were already haggling at prices.

"This place used to be a fishing town," Hermione started to explain to Ron. "But I guess the river is gone now. The bed was empty."

"That's sad," Ron said sadly. It seemed that nothing good had happened while he had been asleep. He then blinked as he thought to why he was here in the first place. He had been with Harry and Hermione for almost a month now but he was no closer to helping his family than he was before.

"Hey?" he asked slowly, "When do you think that Dumbledore will show up?"

They both looked at him in mild surprise, before they remembered why he was here.

"Oh, that's right," said Hermione thinking it over. "Well, he should be coming by again soon. It's already been about two months since we last saw him…"

"That's hard to say," Harry said frowning a little. "You know how he is. He comes and goes when he wants to."

'_That sounds like the guy I know,'_ Ron thought to himself, remembering how he would come and go whenever you least expect it. "And Minerva?"

"She's now teaching in a school far away from here," Hermione answered. "To teach young witches and wizards. She really doesn't do much traveling anymore. But she does come by once in awhile."

"Why?" Harry asked him. "You getting tired of us?"

"Oh, no," Ron said. He had grown very fond of them both and grateful for helping him. But… "But you see… I need to ask him something that'll help my family."

"Well, if you tell us what it is you have to do…" Hermione told him as they went over a large rock and they bumped along, "Then maybe we can help you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "I wish you could… but I don't even know what it is that I'm supposed to do. But I know Dumbledore… he's known my parents even before I was born, so he might be able to answer some questions."

"How do you know that we won't be able help?" Hermione challenged and Harry fought a smile. He knew that she hated it whenever someone thought that she couldn't answer a question. But he was also dying to know what Ron was hiding from them…

They made several stops and made quick sells with the food or handmade objects that they brought with them. Ron felt guilty at the few gold coins that they were given for all their hard work, but they seemed satisfied.

"So what do we need?" Harry asked.

"More food for the animals," Hermione answered him at once. "And we need some new clothes and…" the list went on and Ron asked, "Are you able to pick it all up with that little?"

"I never said we were going to get them all," Hermione answered grimly. "That's just what we need."

"We'll make due somehow," Harry answered bleakly as they stopped by another shop selling feed. It was pretty slow for the next few hours as they all tried to decide on what to get, and what they would have to do without for awhile.

Ron sat there for a long time, watching them barter. He never knew that people had to work hard for so little when his family lived with everything they could ever want. How was that right?

But his sympathy faded slightly as he was forced to stand there as a dummy as Hermione draped several scarves on him so that she could look at them all. He tried to ignore the woman sniggering until she suddenly stopped and drew back into her stall as if afraid.

"Hey, what…?" he began, but Hermione drew him back as well as they looked to the street. A boy about their age was coming down, draped on either side by two thugs that looked like bodyguards. The boy was pale, and seemed to be wearing a constant smirk on his face as he sat on top of his horse.

"Who's that?" Ron asked, suddenly not liking this guy at all.

"Just one of the nobles," she hissed back.

"So he's royalty?" he asked.

"No, but not too far off," she answered him in disgust. "They own a great deal of land and have more money then they'll ever know what to do with it. But that's not why we all hate them."

They watched as he looked at all the merchandise with his nose upturned to them all as if they were all nothing but cheap garbage to him.

"He's doing it again isn't he?" asked Harry as he quickly walked cross the road to reach them. "Trying to remind us 'commoners' that we're just scum of the earth and that he's part of the chosen ones?"

"Looks like it," she told him as they glared at him as he passed. But as the boy reached them he stopped and looked down at Harry.

"Well, well, well…" he smirked at them. "If it isn't the farm boy. How's cleaning out the pigpens these days."

"Terrible," Harry answered coolly. "Because the smell reminds me of you, Draco."

"That's lord to you!" he called as his bodyguards appeared on either side again, cracking their knuckles.

"Oh, I forgot," Harry answered sarcastically with a little bow. "Please forgive me, 'lord'."

The guy, Draco, pulled out a horse whip and with a loud CRACK hit Harry across the face.

"Hey!" Ron yelled stepping forward, but Hermione held him back.

"Don't get involved," she whispered, but she looked just as angry.

"Well, what do we have here?" Draco asked, noticing him. He looked him up and down and smirked. "Yet another commoner no doubt? Of course, why am I not surprised?"

Ron's fists gripped tightly, bursting to tell him that he was talking to a prince… but he held his tongue with a restraint he never knew he had.

"I see I was right," Draco laughed dumbly. He put his whip down on the horse and said, "May all you commoners remember your place."

He then road off, still laughing. Ron looked quickly to Harry to see that there was an ugly, red mark across his face. He watched as Harry put his hand up and felt the stinging flesh for a moment… if he was in pain, he was hiding it well. He then looked back to Hermione and asked, "Do we have everything?"

"Almost," she sighed. "I just need to finish getting…"

"Hey wait!" Ron called as the noise of the village went back to normal.

"What?" Harry asked simply.

"What?" he repeated angrily. "What?! Why didn't you do anything?!"

"Because we couldn't," Hermione said.

"You couldn't?" Ron repeated again. "Come on! I see you both working all day! You could've taken that pansy!"

"Most likely," Hermione sighed. "But that's not the problem."

"But…"

"We'll tell you later," Harry answered. The red mark was clearly visible and started to swell so Ron didn't say another word as they finished piling up the wagon and took off down the road. Once they were out of sight of the town, Ron didn't think he could've been any happier.

"Hey," Ron said speaking at last. "You two may be alright with this, but I'm not."

"Huh?" Harry asked him looking back at him.

"What's wrong with you?!" he shouted, waving his fists in the hair. "You could've taken him down with one hand behind your back but you stood there and let him use a horse whip on you? The only logical thing to do there was pound his face into mush and then mopped up the blood with those two thugs faces!"

"That sounds nice," Harry nodded. "But it's not that simple. The last time someone fought back like that, he was killed on sight."

That stopped Ron's angry rant.

"What?" he repeated.

Harry sighed. "There's nothing here to keep the nobles under control. See, this Far East isn't part of the kingdom. The one that is under a spell? This village isn't part of it, but they used to keep everyone in check as well."

Ron froze at the mention of his home.

"And after they were all cursed," Hermione finished, twisting around to look at him. "There wasn't anyone left to tell the nobles what to do."

"So now they think they can do anything they want," Harry finished angrily. "Even if you fight back or attack them, they'll just kill you. There's no one left able to stop them."

"Why don't you all fight back or something?" Ron asked, guilt now filling him at how it was their fault that this happened.

"We have tried," Hermione answered glancing at Harry. "But they have plenty of thugs that outnumber us. We're not warriors… this town and the several others like it in this area are filled with merchants and farmers who have never used a sword. We're trying to figure out a way to stop them, but it's not easy. So long as we don't attack them, then they really can't do too much."

She looked to Harry and said, "You know that the villagers have always admired you for how you deal with them."

He sighed, unable to answer.

Ron sat quiet… suddenly wishing that they had just stayed home today.


	7. The Old Wizard

**Chapter 6: The Old Wizard**

The ride back to the house was a quiet one. Ron sat there looking at the rolling dark hills as the sun stretch across the sky, not bothering to speak as he thought everything over. Was this how the world had become since the curse was placed? If so, then maybe they were better off asleep.

"I don't like it," he said to no one in particular.

"None of us do," Hermione admitted, thinking he was speaking to her. "But if we try to fight back, we could end up getting innocent people killed. You have to be careful. The last thing that we want is to get killed on the spot."

"But surly there has to be someone to keep them in line?" Ron asked almost desperately.

"Not since the curse was placed on the castle," Harry said calmly. "The royalty there kept the nobles in line. But that's all history now."

"Look," Hermione said trying to change the subject, "How about a feast tonight? We got everything at such a good price right?"

The boys nodded, but they didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride. However, once they arrived at the farm, they saw something that drove everything else out of their minds. There was a buggy by the gate, and the door was left open. As soon as they approached, a woman with long, red hair stuck her head out.

"Mum!" Harry shouted happily and he jumped down from the cart so that he could go running to the house. Ron looked up to get a better look at Harry's mother, Lily… Harry talked a lot about her and he could see that she was indeed, very pretty. She had bright green eyes like her son, and hair a dark shade of red that fell about her shoulders in gentle curls. She beamed as her son came up and hugged her tightly.

Just at that moment, several other people appeared as well and as soon as they reached the gate, Hermione jumped down to run over to her parents as well. Ron felt a little out of place as he slowly walked over to see them.

Harry's father had just come out, and he was the spitting image of his son aside from the different eye color and a little bit of facial features that is… as for Hermione's parents she looked like both of them with her father's brown hair, and her mother's kind face and warm brown eyes… they were both smiling and hugging their daughter tightly.

Once they were done saying hello, Harry beckoned Ron to come closer. "This is Ron," he introduced him to everyone else. Ron just nodded, seeing his friend's parents made him miss his own badly. "He's been here for about a month now and helping us take care of the farm."

Lily looked him up and down for a moment before she smiled warmly at him. "Well, Ron. It's nice to meet you. Now why don't you all come inside?" Lily gestured them to come inside.

"You were all gone for a long time," Hermione told her father as they also entered.

"We know, and we're sorry," he answered her as he kissed the top of her head. "But it wasn't an easy trip. The ship we took got in a bad storm, and the damage was extensive. Luckily no one was hurt. Once the repairs were done, we headed straight for the market and stayed there for about two weeks until it was over. We've brought you both something."

"Really?" she asked excitedly. "What?"

"You can see later," James laughed. "Oh, and by the way, we have another guest with us. We ran into him at an inn on our way back."

As soon into the kitchen, Ron saw that there was a very old man sitting there waiting for them. He had a very thin body and was sporting a long beard and glasses. He beamed at the sight of Harry and Hermione and got up from the table so that he could give them both a hug. Ron briefly wondered if this was a grandfather when Hermione said respectfully, "Dumbledore, Sir."

Ron's jaw dropped. Dumbledore? As in the same Dumbledore who gave him his blessing and the one who put his sister to sleep? But he was so… old! Dumbledore looked over their heads to see him standing there and his eyes told the truth. The same blue eyes that he had seen that day…

Dumbledore looked at him confused for a moment, his eyes becoming glassy for a moment as if he was remembering something from a long time ago. Suddenly they widened in nothing but shock before he walked over to get a closer look at him.

"So it _is_ you…" he said softly, his voice sounded filled with age and wisdom.

"Dumbledore?" James asked in surprise, looking between the two of them. "You know him?"

Dumbledore didn't answer him as he lowered his head and spoke to Ron, "I knew that the princess's heart started again, but it is good to see you again, my young prince. After all these years…"

There was stunned silence in the little house.

"P-prince?" Hermione stuttered.

He looked up at them all as they stared at the two of them. "So it is you!" Ron gasped, relief flooding through him. Finally, someone who could help him!

"Sir?" Harry asked confused as the rest of them looked from Ron to Dumbledore and back. "What are you talking about?"

"I see that he hasn't told you," Dumbledore said as he brought them all to the table.

"You're a prince?" Harry whispered to him as they all took their seats.

"Ah… well…" Ron said ashamed. "The truth is…"

"I'll explain it," Dumbledore said gently, he looked to the others and explained, "Prince Ronald here, is part of the royal family of the cursed kingdom."

More stunned silence fell and now they were all gaping like fish out of water. Dumbledore lowered his head softly as he went on, "A hundred years ago, when I was just starting out as a wizard, I was once good friends with the royal family. King Arthur, Queen Molly, and their six sons and only daughter Ginevra. I, myself, had given the princess and the prince's their blessings… when they were born; however, after the princess's birth, a dark wizard named Voldemort had cursed her."

"Cursed her?" James repeated in horror.

"Oh, the poor thing," Lily said softly, her hands over her mouth.

"Did you remove it?" Hermione's father asked.

"I would've if I could," Dumbledore sighed. "But that was such dark magic that the only thing powerful enough to break it would be true love."

"So you made her fall asleep," Ron muttered bitterly, glaring at him.

"I am sorry," he told him with a bow of his head. "But it was the best I could do." He turned back to the rest of them and explained, "Voldemort predicted that when Princess Ginevra… or Ginny for short, turned sixteen, she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die."

They all looked horrified and he went on, "The best I could do, was put the princess into a deep sleep instead. An ageless, sleep until a kiss from her true love would awaken her. And of course, not knowing how long the curse would last, I then placed the whole kingdom to sleep once the princess did prick her finger, for I didn't want her to have to waken to find her family and everyone she knew to have died. And now the whole kingdom has slept for a hundred years."

More silence followed.

"But then…" Hermione stuttered out, "But why would Ro-I mean, Prince Ronald…"

"You don't have to call me a prince," Ron muttered embarrassed, for some reason, not liking it when she called him that title.

"Ok then, why would _Ron_ wake up now?" Hermione went on, asking him.

"Because the princess has fallen in love," he answered her simply. "The princess has chosen her true love now."

"But how is that possible?" Lily asked him startled. "If she's been asleep in the castle all this time…"

"I really don't know how I can describe the nature of the spell," he told them grimly, "But the point is, I designed the spell so that when the princess has given her heart to another, the spell will wear off slightly enough so that one of her brothers will awaken and bring her love to her. Only true love's first kiss is powerful enough to break the spell."

They looked at Ron again, who was suddenly wishing that he could disappear.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Harry asked him. He didn't sound angry… more disappointed.

Ron played with the helm of his shirt and addressed the table, "Because… because I thought that you would think I was crazy," he mumbled.

"Well," Lily said, now that the shock was wearing off, "I just hope that these two didn't make you suffer too much." She looked at Harry and Hermione with a smile. "A little bit is good…"

"No, it's alright," he grumbled before he looked to Dumbledore and asked. "Ok, I'm awake! And now, I'm supposed to find my sister's soul mate right? How the hell am I supposed to do that?! I don't have anything to go by! I don't know what he looks like, where he lives… heck I don't even know his name!"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I understand your frustration. But I'm afraid that I don't know any more than you do. But to start off, there are several things that you must get before you can begin to think of saving your family," he told him calmly.

"What?" Ron gasped. "You didn't mention this."

"I'm sorry," he said nodding to him. "But I set this all up not long after your kingdom fell asleep."

"Way to break it to him now," Harry muttered and Ron had to fight a smirk.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows serenely at Harry before he looked to Ron and explained, "What you need are three things. Now that you're awake and outside the castle, you won't be able to go back so easily, even if you do find the right person. What you will need will be… an enchanted stone, a sword and a key."

"For what do I ask?" he demanded. "What's this about a sword? And a rock and key?"

"I set up enchantments to keep everyone out of the kingdom so that no harm will come to anyone," Dumbledore told him.

"What kind of enchantments?" Hermione's mother asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm afraid that it's been so long now…" he sighed. "But the point is, I have hidden three items to help you on your quest. The stone, that a dear friend of mine created, is the only thing that will cause the doors to open and let you back into the kingdom," he explained. "The sword had been enchanted so that it will be able to help you to fight your way through the traps that I put up, and the key is the key to the room where your sister sleeps. Once you have all three of these items, will you be able to bring your sister's soul mate to her."

"But WHO is he?!" he cried out.

"I don't know," Dumbledore repeated and Ron looked ready to tear his hair out.

"You must know something," Harry began desperately. "I mean… if you knew that the princess's heart started again…"

"Yeah, how did you know?" James interrupted.

"I created the spell," he told him simply. "I could feel a change take place within the castle, and I knew that it could only mean that the princess had chosen. But that's not the issue here." He looked back to Ron, "I'm afraid that I don't know… who your sister loves with all her heart… that is something only the princess can decide," he told him grimly. "I have to say nothing has been the same since the kingdom fell asleep. But if you want a chance to save them, then you must go and find these items, if you go, you might get lucky and find him along the way."

Ron didn't do anything but stare at him before his head fell onto the table with a loud bang. "I can't believe this…"

James looked up to Dumbledore and asked, "This isn't all just one big joke right?"

When he shook his head, James sighed. "I thought not. It's not like you to joke around about things like this."

The questioning went on for some time until the sun had set and Lily and Monica, Hermione's mother, started preparing dinner. As the men talked, the trio went out to the field.

They leaned up against the fence that they all worked so hard to fix together, all of them watching as the stars slowly began to come out. "So…" Harry said after a long silence. "You aren't going to lock us in the dungeon for making you get your hands dirty?"

"No," Ron smirked, knowing that he was joking. "I mean… I'm glad I got to see how hard you work. Really, makes me think…"

"We knew that you came from a rich family," Hermione said softly, "But a prince?"

"Is it that really hard to believe?" he asked frowning.

"Well, when I first met you, you didn't look like much of a prince," Hermione answered with a smile. Just mentioning that first day, and the mud caused them all to start laughing.

"Seriously, though," Hermione said, once she hiccupped back to normal, her face turning stern again. "Why didn't you tell us? We might've been able to help."

"Well," he said defensively, "What would you do if you were me?"

"Well, this explained why you didn't know anything about the castle, or anything else around here, huh?" Harry asked him. "And why you were so interested in hearing the story either. So the day we met was right around the time that you woke up?"

Ron turned red as he nodded, "I just woke up… and I had been wandering around for days until I met you both."

Quiet fell again for a short time until Hermione asked, "What was it like?"

"What was what like?" he asked confused.

"You life before this…" she asked softly, "What was your kingdom like? What was it like sleeping all that time?"

Ron looked down at the ground.

"It's ok," Harry said at once, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"No…" he said softly. He looked to them both, "I trust you…" He moved up to sit right on the fence and thought for a moment.

"Well…" he said slowly, "It's always been such a peaceful place. I told you about my brothers and parents right?"

They both listened, not bothering to tell him the fact that he left major parts of his stories out. "And well… there's not much to say. Everyone was really happy… I was still just a baby when my sister was cursed. Only my two eldest brothers Bill and Charlie remember that night. But on Ginny's sixteenth birthday, three of my brothers were watching her, but they let her slip out of their sights. She was only gone for a little while… and I don't know for sure how it happened… but she must've pricked her finger. After that… I just… I just remember waking up in the hallway."

Hermione moved to sit next to him. "That sounds like it would've been a terrible experience. Waking up like that?"

He shuddered slightly at the memory of waking up surrounded by thorns… alone in that quiet place…

"You have no idea," he said miserably.

"So you knew Dumbledore way back then?" Harry asked. "And as soon as you heard that he was still alive with us…?"

"I knew that he was the only one who could help me," he said with a shrug. "I can't tell you how stunned I was to find out I was asleep for a hundred years! I swear, it passed in just the blink of an eye!" He sighed as he looked up at the dark sky, "I can't believe how much has changed."

They all looked back to the sky and waited… just enjoying each other's company.

"So what are you going to do?" Harry finally asked.

"I'm going to get those stupid items," Ron muttered darkly. "Dumbledore said that he would give me a map to find them… but…" he looked at them both before he said, "I'm toast, huh?"

"You shouldn't give up so easily," Hermione said at once.

"I think he's just toying with me," Ron muttered again, "I mean… he could've held onto those items… or put them all in the same place so that it'd be easier to get them! BUT NO! He had to go and hide all three of them in different places! Why would he do that?!"

"Well," Hermione said slowly, "You shouldn't be so hard on him. He had no idea how long you'd all sleep for. For all he knew, you could've slept for so much longer! He might've been dead and gone by the time you woke up! He must've done what he thought would be for the best…"

Ron gave her a grim look. "Well, how am I going to do it? I don't have the slightest clue where to start!"

Harry patted him on the shoulder. "Look… why don't we get some food? You haven't lived until you had some of my mum's cooking…"

Ron cheered up slightly at the thought of food, but the frown was still there. He walked miserably to the house, with Harry and Hermione right behind him. As they walked, they both shared a look with each other and a quiet nod; both of them thinking the same thing.

Dinner would've been quiet, but they kept asking questions about the curse and what life was like a hundred years ago. Ron felt slightly better as he thought of his family, but he glanced at his friends… this would be the last time he saw them… after tonight… he would leave by himself and go out to try and save his kingdom…

By the time that it was over and they went to bed, Ron was feeling miserable… almost wishing that tomorrow would never come.

*Next Day*

The sky resembled a dying fire once morning came; a swirling mass of orange, red and yellow. The air was thick, constricting, making everyone clammy with the evening heat.

"Well," Lily said, unusually grim as she handed Ron some food once he climbed into the wagon, a horse that Dumbledore conjured up for him was being strapped into the harness. "This should last you some time," she told him.

"Ok," he said. "Thanks… but you've already given me so much…"

"Well, it's going to be quite a long journey now isn't it?" Monica asked. "Besides, most of this is from Dumbledore."

At his name, Dumbledore came up and handed him a map. "The X's you see mark where you will find the three items needed. I entrusted them to several old friends who will be able to give it to you. Oh," he added before he handed Ron another slip of paper. "Give this to them, don't lose it… you'll need it to convince them that I sent you."

"Thanks," Ron sighed miserably as he looked at the map.

"So where are we heading to first?" Harry asked him as he put a small bag into the cart.

"Well, according to this we have to… hey-hey wait!" Ron stuttered looking up to him. "What do you mean _we_?"

"Oh, come on," Harry grinned. "Like we're going to let you go alone."

"You barely survived working in the fields," Hermione added as she jumped up beside him. She looked to her parents and told him, "We asked last night after you went to bed if we could go with you… they weren't happy about it, but they said sure."

"We want to help you," Monica said, with an anxious look at her daughter. "But…"

"We'll be fine, mum," Hermione reassured her. "Besides, you promised that we could go on our own adventure someday as well right?"

Harry was giving his mother a fierce hug. "You promise me that you'll be safe?" she said to him. "And keep them safe as well?"

"I always do, mum," he told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "And when we come back, we'll tell you everything!"

"Watch your back, son," James said gripping his hands tightly, as Hermione's parents were exchanging goodbyes to her as well.

Hermione then notice Ron's stunned expression and asked him, "What, your majesty? Don't you want to experience a new world with us?"

Ron didn't know what to say. This had to be the nicest thing that anyone had ever done for him. It was one thing to help someone plan for a journey… another to go on one with you.

"So what are we waiting for?" Harry asked brightly.

"Thanks," Ron muttered… not sure what else to say.

"Don't mention it," he said as he climbed up to sit next to them.

"Now, I know I don't need to say this," Dumbledore said coming up to stand next to them. "But be careful."

"You're not worried about us are you?" Harry asked cheekily.

"Of course we are," he smiled gently. "For any poor fool who tries to stop you."

They laughed as Harry shook the reins, "Thanks for that!" the cart started off and he called out, "And don't worry! We'll be back before you know it!"

"We'll be praying for you all," Dumbledore said. And they took off.

The adults all stood and waved them off, even long after they disappeared over the horizon. Lily looked to Dumbledore and asked, "Was this really for the best, Dumbledore?" she asked anxiously. "I know that they can take care of themselves… but…"

"They'll be fine, my dear," he told her gently. "And should they succeed, then they'll be changing everything here."

"But how are they supposed to find this guy?" Wendell, Hermione's dad, asked him. "How was the princess supposed to choose when she's locked in a timeless state for a hundred years?"

Dumbledore sighed as he looked at them. "Come inside," he said. "I'll try to explain it as best as I can."

As he led them all into the small house, miles away inside the forgotten city, the rosebud that the sleeping princess still held began to open slightly wider so that the red hue was clearly shining through.


	8. Starlight, Starbright

**Chapter 7: Starlight, Starbright**

The trio had begun a pilgrimage through the countryside, trying to save a kingdom from eternal sleep. Even to them, it sounded crazy.

"So…" Harry asked as they went over the bumpy road, heading in the same direction as yesterday. "Where do we go first? We left in such a hurry we didn't have much time to ask for any…?"

Hermione poured over the map, turning it every-which-way, as if she was memorizing every detail. Though, knowing her, she probably was.

"Well," she said after a few minutes of looking. "According to this… the closest one is miles away…"

"Well, that should take us a few days…" Harry said.

"On another island," she finished.

"What?" Ron yelled as he looked over her shoulder to see where she was pointing. Harry looked as well, and sure enough, there was a small black X on a small island off the coast.

"Terrific," he said gloomily as he shook the reins. "Well," he went on, "We're going to need a boat once we get there won't we?"

"And according to this, we'll have to climb a mountain to get to the second item," she added sourly, tracing the path with her finger.

"I'm sorry about this," Ron said looking down at his feet. "If I knew that it would be this tough then…"

"Its fine," Harry said coolly. "You didn't force us did you?"

"Besides, I love to visit the ocean," Hermione said, thinking it all over.

Things were pretty uneventful for the next two days of traveling. They passed through the familiar town, not bothering to stop and chat, the last thing that any of them wanted was to have another run-in with Malfoy. They then went traveling onwards along a rocky path, heading down to the shorelines. They would travel in the wagon, only stopping to camp for the night, and then cook up some food before they headed off again.

On the evening of the second day, they found a patch of grass to stop and rest for a little while.

"By this time tomorrow," Hermione said, hopping down so that she could stretch her legs and let the horse rest. "We should reach the docks. Hopefully, we'll find a ship that can take us to the island."

Harry yawned as he lay back on the soft grass. Almost wearily, he brought his fingertips to his face so that he might massage his temples, trying to will away a pinching ache that had been buzzing in his head for most of the day. It was an awkward pinch, more distressing than painful, and it felt like he was on the edge of a memory.

"Where to next?" Ron asked expectantly, as he sat down with them.

"We'll travel a little farther on today," she answered, walking around. "And then we'll find a place to sleep the night. We'll figure out what to do about a ship tomorrow."

She looked over at Harry to see that he was still lying there rubbing his head.

"You ok?" she asked. "Do you have a headache?"

"I guess," he answered grimly. "Nothing to worry about though. I guess I just didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Well, I'll take the first shift tonight," she told him. Bandits were uncommon in this area, but they weren't willing to take chances here. "You were up most of last night."

He smirked wearily. "I won't say no to that," he told her as she pulled out some fruit and jerky. They sat there on the grass, as the horse grazed a few feet away, and talked. They enjoyed hearing life as a prince from Ron, who told them everything he could think of.

"You must really love your sister to go through all this for her," Harry said, taking a large bite from his pear.

Ron shrugged. "Well… we've all been really protective of her since she was a baby. Mum and Dad especially liked to have her were they could keep an eye on her. Now I know why."

"They were afraid she would be taken away from them if they didn't," Hermione said unhappily.

"All that for nothing," he said miserably.

"Not yet," Harry said looking at him. "You can still end it. We just have to go on a quest to get some magical items back and break the curse with a kiss right? How hard could it be?"

"Famous last words, mate," Ron said laughing. "But yeah. And once I do complete this quest and wake them all up, I can rub it in Fred and George's faces later on."

"Well, you sound upbeat," Hermione said laughing.

"And like my dad says," Harry went on, grinning, "That's half the battle in life. Attitude."

After a few more rounds of laughter, they all cleaned up and went back to the road.

"According to this," Hermione said, still with the map, "There should be a rest area for us up ahead."

"Good," Ron stated looking up at the dark sky. "It's getting dark."

"Think'll rain tonight?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Could," Ron said. "If it does, I have no objections."

"You say that now," Hermione told him without looking up.

"Hey look!" Harry yelled, pointing ahead of them, where the tall grass had turned into a forest. Those tall trees would be perfect for shelter, and there should be berries and roots that they could pick for dinner. And there was bound to be water around somewhere for them to drink, they were running low on water anyway.

They traveled along an unmarked, steep trail that climbed up the side of small gorge, the trail was steep, but the horse didn't seem to have too much trouble going along. Eventually the trail leveled out and they then walked along a stone path, which came to a small clearing ahead; in the distance they could hear a waterfall. As they continued along the path leading to the sound of that waterfall, the air became warm and the air felt refreshing on their faces.

They went through the forest trying to find a place to rest and after walking a few more yards they found the most beautiful place. Saying they were amazed would be an understatement.

It was a small waterfall… This was on the left hand side of a gorge, facing upstream it is broken up into a number of segments. The bedrock here is tilted back against the flow of the river, creating many obstacles for the water to overcome. The waters, beautifully, cascaded down to become a small stream, which free falls, and falls below into a wide spring beneath' this small, gently sloped fall.

The gentle murmur of rushing waters serenades the tranquil forest, the tall trees were a towering acre of green and brown wood, while the water was tinted a clear blue. As the waters in the spring flowed from the falls, it was continuously shaping, changing.

They stopped the cart and climbed down so that they could get closer to the waterfall; when they did they saw that the sparkled in the remaining light. Harry went and dipped his hand in the spring and they both watched the gentle ripples. While he knelt beside the spring, Ron went nearer to the falls, the waterfall splashed upon his skin. When he closed his eyes, he felt so rejuvenated like a giant weight was taken off his shoulders. As Hermione knelt at the water's edge, dipping her feet into the cool water and taking away any hurt she had.

After they finally got over the shock of seeing something so beautiful, they finally looked around to see bushes full of berries, fruit and roots were all round them, they also were able to catch some of the fish that were swimming around in the spring.

Hermione told Ron to go and collect some wood for a fire, while she started to collect some fruit, and everything else she could see. When he got back, Harry had caught some fish as she had a basket of mushrooms.

Later that night, Hermione sat up as the boys drifted off to sleep after telling her to wake one of them when she got too tired.

As soon as he went to sleep however… Harry had another dream.

_*Dream*_

_He dreamed of being in a majestic looking field stretched out before him. It was still dark, and the field was filled with fireflies. Hundreds of fireflies sparkling like stars, matching the countless stars in the sky overhead. As he stared around him, a gentle wind was coming from an unknown direction, blowing against the boy's jet black messy locks, and kissing his slightly tanned skin._

_Harry's eyes stared around, confusion and awe clearly evident in his emerald irises. He stood there, clueless of where he was and why he was there._

_"The summer gold fireflies only come out to dance under the moonlight when the night sky is full of stars like this," said a voice. Harry smiled as he looked behind him. He had momentarily forgotten someone was there with him. Sure enough, the girl was gazing intently on the swarming fireflies, her flaming red hair rustled by the softly blowing wind. Harry caught himself staring at her and shook his head, slightly blushing._

"_You came back," she asked as he came up to her. _

"_I always do," he told her teasingly and she smiled brightly at him. She chuckled lightly and moved down so that she could sit next to him. She smiled brightly at him before she put her hands behind her back so that she could look at the sky overhead. "Oh, lighten up Harry! This is a perfect place to relax."_

_Harry now seemed to be staring at the palm of his hand intently, like there was something interesting going on there. He looked up at her in slight confusion, worry, and for some reason, remorse. But his gaze seemed to soften at the sight of her face. "It is."_

_Blushing, she gave him a nervous look, but the smile never left._

_He looked serene and innocent as the winds ruffled his messy black hair. She chuckled and swept past him, her fiery red hair on one side dancing after her in the fast winds as she gentled her eyes to where they glowed in the starlight. "You know, you really can be quite charming."_

_He was startled at what she said. "Me? Charming?"_

_She laughed. "Well… one might say… enchanting."_

_Now he could tell that she was teasing and he laughed as she grabbed his hand and led him through the grass. They walked along the grassy fields and observed everything going on in the distance. Fireflies swarmed around them as they tickled their faces and tugged on some lose strands of their hair. _

_They watched the fireflies dance upon the water as they stood on the bridge overlooking a small stream. They gazed down on their rippling reflections. The girl rested her chin on her arms against the wooden rail. Harry had his arms on the wooden rail as well, but his hands were clenched in fists. She glanced up at him but decided to sit down on a nearby slope. Harry followed suit._

"_So, what's your name?" Harry asked her._

"_Why do you ask a question you know the answer to?" she asked. "I still don't remember anything."_

"_There's always a chance you have now," Harry suggested as a single firefly buzzed in his face. Curious, he put a finger to it and to his delight; it landed lightly on the tip. He smiled at her, closed his eyes, and plopped himself on his back as his chest deflated. Hundreds of fireflies surrounded them and he could hear her breathing… for some reason it was soothing to him._

_"Tired already?" she asked._

_His eyes opened. "No, not really, why don't we watch the stars? You said you've been stargazing before haven't you?"_

_The girl leaned down to lie beside him and watched the stars shooting across the night sky. The shooting stars were skidding across the night sky in quick glimpse of traveling light. Harry could feel the atmosphere of the shooting stars reflect light against her eyes. "I have. But I've… never seen __shooting__ stars before," he heard her say._

_Harry turned his head and pointed up to say, "Make a wish."_

_She looked at him confused before he explained, "My mother told me whenever you see a shooting star, you can make a wish," he said to her._

"_Really?" she asked surprised. "What kind of wish am I suppose to wish for?" she asked._

"_Whatever you want?" he suggested._

_"Do they come true?" she asked excitedly._

_Harry laughed. "She once told me that she wished that she'd have a baby boy, and not longer after that, she found out that she was pregnant with me. Just close your eyes and make a wish. But you can't tell anyone about it unless it comes true though. That's what she says anyway."_

_She stared at him for a moment and soon looked up at the sky again, listening to the quiet chirping of the crickets. "Can I make a wish for you?" She whispered as she looked down, her eyes softening and a faint blush creeping up her cheeks._

_Harry stared at her and blinked twice at her words and looked over to see her close her eyes for a moment, her red bangs hung over her face. She then opened them again and looked up. With his eyes set upon the starry night, he spoke._

_"No. It would be better if you made a wish for your sake instead," he said. _

_She shook her head and smiled up at the shooting stars. "In that case, I don't need to make a wish."_

_"Oh?" he asked._

_"You know, sometimes you can be enchanting and a hopeless case at the same time," she laughed._

_With slanted and mischievous eyes, Harry grinned. "Who asked you?"_

"_I just say it like it is," she told him smiling._

"_You really should make that wish though," he said, getting tired as his eyes drooped close and he knew that he would be waking soon. "Like… wishing to remember what your name is?"_

_He remembered hearing the crickets chirping, and the girl laughing gently at his question. "Come back soon…" he heard her whisper._

_And then he knew no more._

_*End of Dream*_

"Harry?" said a voice bringing him back from his dream. He opened his eyes to see Ron standing over him. He blinked in confusion, wondering where he was before he looked around him. The sun was starting to rise over the treetops.

"Oh," he yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Morning already?"

"Yeah," Ron said yawning. "Hermione woke me up a while ago and told me to keep watch. Just thought that we should get a head start now." He looked him over and asked, "You ok? You're normally the first one up."

"Yeah," he answered stretching. "Just had a strange dream last night."

"Good or bad?" he asked.

"Both," Harry said as he went over to wake Hermione. "I didn't want to wake up from it."

**(What do you all think? I've decided that in every dream, it will be in a different place. I think that it adds a little extra surprise. What do you all think?)**


	9. The Son of a Pirate

**Chapter 8: The Son of a Pirate**

The next day, Hermione was right—as always. They were at the shore of the ocean. When Harry had really thought about it, he had always loved going to the ocean ever since he was a young child. But because they lived so far away, going there was a rare treat…

Today, the gloomy weather was matched with the crashing waves breaking over the jagged rocks as the gulls over them calling loudly. The cloudy sky caused the water below to change the colors from soft blues to dark turquoise, making everything seem colder. Shadows play over the rocks, hiding their small coves as the salty air blew their hair back.

The three of them stood up on the hill, looking at the endless vast of ocean that seemed to stretch out into an infinite void. The slow rushing of the water, the crashing waves, the sad color of the sea, the harshness of the rocks… it was wonderful.

Harry lowered the collar of his shirt, exposing his bare neck to the bursting winds of cold air from the shoreline.

"Wow…" Ron croaked out, staring at it all.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked him smiling.

"I've… I've never seen the ocean before," he croaked out, staring around them at the water and the stretch of beach. "I've seen big lakes… but nothing like this!"

"It almost feels like it's unnatural," Hermione nodded in understanding. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Look!" Harry called, pointing to the east to see a small town built there. "Those are the docks. We should be able to get a boat to the island easy there."

"But what about our supplies here?" Ron asked him, jerking his head at the cart behind them.

"Don't worry," Harry told him as they climbed back on. "Mum and Dad have a close friend who lives here. He and his family come and visit all the time. We should be able to get them to look after everything while we're gone for a few days."

And with a shake of the reins, they went on their way.

"So," Ron asked them after a few minutes of just staring out at the sea. "What kind of place is this harbor?"

"It is a town full of sailors and pirates, led by a former infamous pirate," Hermione said at once. "Originally, it was a place full of troublemakers and cut-throats until this pirate came and got rid of the riffraff, making it a haven to pirates. So now, it is a town willing to offer its services to whoever wants them."

"So all we have to do is find him and ask for a favor," Harry said evenly.

Ron gulped. "A p-pirate?"

"Former pirate," Harry answered. "Don't worry. We've done business with him before."

"You… you have?" Ron stuttered. He couldn't believe that these two would be on speaking terms with pirates! A hundred years ago, the idea of someone knowing a pirate would cause panic.

They obviously noticed the look on his face because Hermione said, "This part of the world is under the protection of several pirate crews. See, they do lots of business with us and we get to use their name to prevent other pirates from attacking. Besides, this old pirate is a friend of James so it's alright."

"But why would your dad know a pirate?" Ron asked Harry.

"That's kind of a long story," Harry admitted. "But to put it simply, this place does all kinds of business and is renowned for such rich fishing grounds, as well as for its shipwrights and their ships. Trust me. If there's anywhere we can find a ship to take us to the first item, it's here."

The rest of the ride was a pretty quiet one as they slowly advanced on the city. The city itself was small, being a classic port town, with many stone-cobbled alleyways winding between buildings which hug the curve of the hills. Merchants were selling fresh seafood in the market stalls daily, along with many other items brought by traders and pirates. Several waterways run through the city, some carrying drinking water, others used as canals for the transport of goods.

After several hours of looking around, they stopped by one of the wooden homes. Harry jumped down and went to the door to knock. "Is this it?" Ron asked with a gulp as Harry knocked.

"Yes," Hermione answered him. "The former pirate we need to see lives here."

Ron looked up, wondering what kind of man they would see… when the door opened, he expect to see a strong man with muscles and tattoos and a long mess of hair—with a patch over his eye or even a pegged leg and scars.

Well, the man did have faint scars on his face… but other than that, there were no other signs that he had ever been a pirate. The stranger was wearing a worn pair of pants and a shirt… his light brown hair was flecked with gray. But he seemed to have had a very kind face… when he opened the door and saw who it was, he let out a cry of joy and hugged Harry so tightly, it was almost as if he was trying to break him in half.

"Remus!" Hermione called as she got down hugging him too. Feeling that he was missing something, Ron came forward as they quickly made the introductions. It turns out that this man was an old friend of Harry's dad… and sailed the seas as a pirate until just a few years ago. He led them inside the house to where his young wife and infant son were.

Now his family looked more like pirates then he did… his wife, named Tonks, had pink hair, torn clothes, and even an earring in her ear. But she had a fun-loving personality and was more than happy to see Harry and Hermione again.

As for the baby named Teddy, he had bright turquoise hair and was crawling around on all fours, exploring every single nook and cranny in this place.

Harry laughed as he picked the baby up and asked Remus, "I see Tonks managed to convince you to get Teddy's hair done."

Remus shrugged and laughed. "What can I say? She can be very persuasive when she wants to be." He then looked around and asked where James was.

"I saw him just a few days ago when he and the others got back from their trip," he told them as he led them into the sitting room.

"Oh, they made it home just fine," Harry answered as Hermione came over and was holding Teddy's tiny hands. "But the three of us are here because we need help to get someplace."

Raising his eyebrows, Harry quickly explained that they needed to get to the island—which was called Mer Island. Though they didn't tell him about the reason why.

"See, there's something here that we need to get for Dumbledore and we volunteered," Hermione finished up.

"I see," Remus answered before he looked to Ron.

"Oh, I'm here for the ride," he came up quickly.

"He's been helping us on the farm," Hermione told Remus. "He's quickly become a great friend."

"I see," Remus said again. "Well, in that case, any friend of yours is a friend of mine as well. It's not much, but please stay for as long as you need to."

He didn't ask any more questions, but went into town to see if he could find a ship that would be able to take them to the island anytime soon. While he was gone, they played with little Teddy and talked to Tonks.

"Don't tell him," Tonks muttered with smile. "But recently I've been thinking about trying to start make a little brother or sister for Teddy."

Harry laughed as Hermione asked, "But you already said that you have your hands full with Teddy."

"Yes," Tonks said fondly as she ruffled the little boy's blue hair. "But he's growing fast. And I would love to have just a few more kids. But I'm trying to get Remus used to the idea. He's already nervous about having Teddy find out that he used to be a pirate when he's a little older."

"Well, he might've been a pirate," Harry said, "But he wasn't like the others."

"Yes," Tonks muttered. "He and his crew were different. That's why I feel in love with them."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"See," Harry explained, "Remus was part of a pirate crew that didn't bother towns. They stole all right, but they only stole from other pirates. And it's his former pirate crew that's protecting this town and several others from being raided. So I don't think that Remus needs to worry about Teddy being ashamed of him."

"Well, he'll find that out when Teddy starts asking what pirates are," Tonks cooed as she scooped the baby up into her arms and he laughed loudly as she blew a raspberry on his face. "But I think that a few more babies around here would be a wonderful idea, don't you think Teddy?"

When the baby gargled up at his mother she beamed, "Yes… but first we have to talk Daddy into it don't we? That shouldn't be too hard…"

They burst out laughing and couldn't stop even after Remus got back.

"What is going on here?" he asked them.

"Oh, nothing," Tonks smiled at him innocently. "We were just talking…" but her smirk quickly turned into fits of laughter.

Remus looked to the rest of them and they could only shrug, pretending not to know what it was about. But thankfully, Remus had been able to find a ship that was scheduled to stop by the island. After a large meal that night and good night's sleep, they said goodbye to Tonks and Teddy as they left the next day.

They left everything but the map and the message from Dumbledore with them—as well as a small, furry brown pouch Harry wore around his neck.

"My parents gave it to me after they got back," he explained to Ron's questioning look. The next day, they met the captain of the ship that would take them to the island… his name was Mundungus.

"You really sure we can trust him?" Harry asked Remus as they watched the drunk pirate staggered towards them.

"Oh, it's you," Mundungus hiccupped when he saw them. "These are the brats you talked about?"

"They're good friends of mine," Remus said firmly. "And let me remind you that should anything happen to any of them, a particular crew wouldn't be very happy about it now would they?"

Mundungus looked at the three of them before he said, "Alright fine! We'll take them to the stupid island! You're just lucky—hic—Remus that we're going there today or we wouldn't bother!"

He then spun around and staggered forward, "What are you—hic—brats waiting for?!"

"I know that he doesn't look it," Remus whispered to them as he led them to the ship. "But he stops by that island once a week and I know that he'll get you there safe."

"I'll take your word for it," Harry muttered. "But I don't like this."

"Sorry," he muttered again. "But the only other people I could get to take you were part of ship that, ah… well to be honest, they're ship looked like it just came out of battle. It barely floats."

"Ok, we'll take our chances here," Hermione said. "Thanks for everything Remus. We should only be gone for a few days… at least I hope so."

"Good luck to you all," he said hugging each of them in turn. "And be careful."

After thanking him again, they waved him off as he turned and headed back in the direction of his home. Harry led the way down the docks and to the ship—labeled, _The Bloodhound_. He climbed on with no problems, but Hermione tried to coax Ron onto the ship.

"It's completely safe, Ron, sailors have been doing this for centuries," she said gently. Ron, who didn't have sea legs, stumbled and had to hold onto her hand to keep himself from falling into the harbor.

"Thanks," he murmured embarrassed as he hung onto the side for support.

"You'll get used to it," Harry said bracingly.

"Alright!" Mundungus called out drunkenly to the rest of the crew, who were tying ropes and pulling the sails. "We have with us some guests that we're gonna dump off at Mer island. After that…" he tipped slightly. "We'll be heading off up north! We have—hic—some customers up there!"

"You know I'm starting to think that we were better off in that boat that was about to sink," Harry muttered to the other two as he watched Mundungus lurch off to his cabin while the rest of them stayed up on deck to look out at the waves. They all then leaned against the safety rails to look out.

"What's that?" Harry called out, having seen something jump out the ocean.

"Oh, that?" Ron called. "By the looks of it, I'd say…a dolphin. Nah, definitely a shark," he responded jokingly.

"How would you know?" Hermione laughed. "You've never even seen the ocean until today!"

The air was salty as the wind blew over them, fluffing the sails and pushing them along, the blue water turning into white foam as the ship cut its way through the waves. Harry breathed in the salty air… could taste salt on his lips. Wind, rain, ocean, tears and salt all accumulating on his mouth… it was a wonderful feeling.

Most especially though, his attention was devoted to the dolphins swimming so effortlessly, frolicking merrily together, and playing tricks on each other as they sped through the water.

The three of them desperately wanted to run their hands through the water, but the sides of the boat came up too high above the water for easy reach, so they contented themselves with avidly watching the swell of the ocean as the craft cut through the water and lean over the boat side to watch.

They were all enjoying themselves even long after the sun had disappeared into the sky and the shore which they came from was nothing but a distant memory.

"How long will it take to get us there?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Not too long…" she answered as she checked the map again. "Yes, with the wind on our tails, we should reach the island in a mere half a day!"

"Then we can get to the first object," Harry said smiling. "Which is what by the way?"

"The stone," Hermione answered at once, pulling the map back out again. "The stone is what we'll need to get inside the castle. But we still need the sword and the key, so we have a long way to go."

"Ok," Ron stated slowly. "After we get the stone here, what next?"

"Head back the way we came," Hermione answered. "And then we'll go West to the mountain pass which will take us to the sword. It's hidden… in a…" she looked closely at the map again, "Looks like some kind of old temple I guess. Anyway, that's where the sword will be. After that, we get the key, which is supposed to be deep inside a forest on our way towards the kingdom…"

"But even if we do get them all," Harry reminded her, "We still need to find Mr. Right for your sister, Ron."

"I know," he sighed. "I'm starting to think that it's just not going to happen."

"Oh, you shouldn't say things like that," Hermione told him. "Your family and kingdom are counting on you."

"Yeah?" he asked. "But if I was supposed to find this guy, then he wouldn't have made it so hard to look."

"We'll help you find him," she promised. "But for now, we'll focus on getting the items back."

While they were talking, they hardly paid any attention to the sky, which had grown darker by the moment. The rest of the crew did however and they were all talking nervously among themselves.

"What's wrong?" Harry called.

"Looks like a storm's a coming!" one of the weedy looking men called anxiously.

"A bad one?" Harry asked, looking up to see the black storm clouds.

"Looks like it!" he called back. "You might want to get below deck if you know what's good for ya!"

They didn't need much persuading, though the boys kept close to Hermione as some of the men stopped to look at her. Once they were down below, they could hear the heavy footsteps above running around, the sounds of things being dropped, or the men shouting.

"Honestly," Hermione said disapprovingly. "How anyone could sleep through all that…"

The ride below had been pretty smooth for the most part… but after about an hour, the ship started to get a little rough. The ship rocked from side to side, they had a hard time staying on their feet, and the sounds of screaming were becoming louder and more wild.

"I think that we picked the wrong day to go sailing," Ron said and the others nodded.

"Let's just stay down here," Hermione told him fearfully. "Let them handle it…"

But as time went on, things only turned from bad to worse. The yelling from the sailors quickly turned silent as the sound of the wind and the roaring of the waves became almost deafening. Salt water was pouring down below and one of the cannons came loose from its place and was rolling everywhere.

"What now?" Hermione screamed to make herself heard.

"We can't stay down here!" Harry yelled as the water continued to pour in.

"You mean go up there?" Ron yelled. "Where the storm is happening?!"

"You have any better ideas?" Harry called back, dodging as a few cannonballs almost knocked him off his feet. And since they couldn't think of anything else to say, the three of them climbed back onto the deck… only to see a terrible sight.

"Where is everyone?!" Hermione screamed. All the men that had been onboard had disappeared… the ropes whipped around, the sails quickly tore, and the ship was falling apart at the seams.

As the sky darkened and became one with the sea, as the wind whipped the sails, and as the rain beat mercilessly… the wind so strong, that Harry was almost blasted overboard as he tried to make his way to the side of the ship.

"The lifeboats are still here!" he yelled. "Did they all jump ship?!"

"In this weather?!" Hermione screamed back, looking like she had just climbed out of the ocean herself.

"What do you suggest they did?" he called.

"What do we do?" Ron yelled. "I don't want to die today!"

"It might be too late for that!" Harry called, panic in his tone as he pointed over their heads. The others turned and they stared… so stunned that for a moment, everything around them quieted down so it was as if they had just turned deaf.

A giant wave was heading towards them…

A wave larger than the ship… like a great black wall that towered over them, blocking out the sky… one that could easily kill them all…

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ron yelled.

"Here!" Harry yelled running to the mast as quickly as he could without slipping on the deck. "Grab on tight!"

The other two got there just in time… the wave hit and _The Bloodhound_ didn't stand a chance. After that, they tried to figure out many times what it was like… it was as if they were trapped in a nightmare as they watched the monster of the wave crash into them, smashing the ship apart as if it was a toy.

They held on to the mast and to each other as tightly as they could as they were pulled underwater. The mast had snapped as if it was a twig, the whole thing being tossed around, spinning and swirling around them—all of them holding their breaths, praying that it would end soon.

Finally, completely turned around, not knowing up from down, they felt themselves floating in one random direction and soon broke the surface of the water. Gasping for air, desperate for something besides water in their lungs they took long, rough breaths.

"H-hey!" Harry called, unable to see anything through the water around them except for waves and pieces of timber, "Are you both alright?"

"Here!" Ron coughed out water.

Hermione didn't answer, but he could hear her husky breath as she also struggled to get to grips on what happened. The three of them continued to cling to what remained of the ship's mast.

"What now?!" Ron spluttered out, struggling to hold on as the wind continued to blow around them. But instead, it was Hermione who answered. "What's that?!"

Through the wreckage of the ship they saw something growing larger in the distance.

"It's another ship!" Harry yelled, waving an arm in the air, trying to get their attention, not noticing that the ship sported a flag with the skull and crossbones.

*On deck*

The deep emerald and black sails of _The Marauder_ were well equipped at handling a strong wind. The crew on deck barely flinched while monstrous waves shook the seas. But they all grew silent when they saw the remains of the ship. They all looked toward their captain awaiting his orders but they couldn't see a reaction, the wide brim of his hat shielded his eyes from all emotion. But that usual veil of secrecy lifted as he tipped his head up to glimpse his prey and a silent smirk was suddenly evident in his dark eyes.

He then called out, "Get your wits ya dolts! The last thing we want is to be bested by a damn storm! You want to go down to Davy Jones locker like what did them?"

"AYE AYE!" the whole crew called out.

"Captain!" called one of the pirates and he looked over at him in annoyance. "What is it?"

"Out there!" he called, pointing in the direction of the wreckage. "Survivors! What do we do?"

He frowned while he spotted the kids in the water, holding onto the broken mast.

"What do you think you idiot?" he yelled. "Pull the kids out!"

*Ron's POV*

Ron was the first person to pull out of the waves and thrown harshly on the weathered deck. Coughing and spluttering, he stared around him in silent terror. Just great… first their ship goes down and they almost drown… and now they were picked up by pirates! Didn't see that coming! Did the universe not want him to succeed?

That was when the tallest of the pirates walked forward. He stood above him, his thin frame towering above him, his hands were those of a rugged pirate, still were caked in dirt, and cuts littered his arms, as his long, black hair blew around in the high breeze.

"I think we be havin' done our job here," the pirate—obviously the captain—walked back around him as if inspecting him.

"Look…" Ron said quickly. "Please don't hurt us… we didn't mean to…"

At that moment, Harry was fished out and he fell to the floor of the ship, coughing for breath as he did. At his voice, the captain turned and spotted him. His eyebrows rising in great surprise, he came over to see him at once.

"Harry!" Ron called in alarm and Harry looked up in time to see the dark haired captain grinning at him from ear to ear.

Harry blinked in astonishment before he broke into a wide smile himself. "SIRIUS!" Harry called out and to Ron's amazement, the captain hugged Harry like a son. His jaw dropped open in bewilderment until Hermione came on board. "Sirius!" she also yelled in surprise. "I thought that this was your ship! What are you doing here?"

"Hermione?" Sirius called to her as he helped Harry up to his feet. "You're here too?"

Ron stared at them all before he got up and cried out, rather hysterically, "Harry? Hermione? You know these people?"

"Yeah," Harry yelled back, beaming at the captain. "He's my godfather!"

*Later*

"You mean to tell me that this guy is your godfather?" Ron gasped.

"Yep," Harry nodded to him firmly. They were all in the captain's cabin getting warm. Sirius had given them warm clothes and blankets to slip into as the crew got back to work, fighting their way through the storm.

"See," Harry explained. "The truth is, my dad was a pirate, and eventually grew so infamous that the rest of the world called him a pirate king. This was his ship."

"The… the pirate… KING?" he choked out, his jaw open as he stared at him. "But then…?"

"Sirius is my father's best friend and was his first mate," Harry explained. "And Remus also served as the navigator for awhile."

"But how… how…?"

"It's kinda a strange story," Harry admitted. "See, my mother was on a passenger's ship that my father raided about nineteen years ago."

"And he took her prisoner?" Ron guessed in horror. He couldn't believe such a kind man had ever been a blood-thirsty pirate.

"Nope," Harry said happily. "Actually, she begged him to take her with him."

"What?" Ron repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, the truth is she was running away from an arranged marriage to a man named Severus," Harry laughed. "She thought that she was going to be forced to marry some man she hardly knew, but when he raided the ship, she offered him all the jewelry she had in exchange for him to take her with him. He agreed in the end… but after awhile, he fell in love with her and when he quite the pirate life, he handed the ship over to Sirius and Remus. He still comes by all the time to visit."

Ron had no idea what to say—for a moment he thought that they were pulling his leg… at least…

"It's true," laughed a voice behind them. They looked up to see Sirius coming in and taking his wet hat off and throwing it onto the table before he grabbed a small wooden stool and scooted over to sit with them. "It was sad to see my best friend go, but it's not like they could've stayed. They got married right here on deck after about a year of knowing each other, and by the time they left," he grinned at Harry and pushed him playfully, "Lily found out that she was expecting the pirate prince."

Harry went red. "It's good to see you too Sirius," he said idly.

"So," Sirius said leaning over to talk to them. "What's my godson and his friends' doing here?"

"We were trying to get to Mer Island," Harry answered at once.

"And why would you want to go there?" he asked in surprise. "It's not what you call the most popular tourist destination."

"It's a long story," Harry said and glanced at Ron, silently asking if it would be ok to tell him. Ron hesitated… but Harry and Hermione sure seemed to trust him, so after a moment, he nodded. Harry grinned back and told him everything.

Sirius looked vaguely surprised to hear who Ron truly was, but he didn't say anything as Harry explained. Once he was done, Sirius thought it all over. "Man… you've got it rough, mate."

He said it so obviously and simply, that Ron couldn't help but laugh. "You can say that again."

Sirius grinned back before he said, "Well, I see your problem. Ah… young love. You have to find your sister's beloved huh? Love is a tricky devil she is… makes a man do almost anything. First James, then Remus…"

"But Remus seemed too nice to be a pirate?" Ron stated.

"Oh, you met him," Sirius grinned, "How's that idiot doing since he and my cousin ran off together?"

"Your cousin?!" Ron repeated in shock. Sirius and Tonks were related?

"Yep," Sirius laughed. "Her mother was my favorite cousin. After she and her husband died, Tonks came on board and served here for about… two years. That was when she and Remus really hit it on."

"Really?" Hermione laughed.

Sirius laughed again. "Yep… about a year ago we found out that she was going to have his baby so we dropped them off to get married!"

Ron looked to Harry. "No offense mate, but you have a strange family."

This time it was Harry who laughed. "Funny… you aren't the first person to say that."

"How is your old man anyway?" Sirius asked as he began sharpening a knife with a large stone. "Haven't seen James for awhile now."

"He's just fine," Harry answered. "Mum too. They miss you tons."

"Yeah, I miss having those two around to," Sirius admitted wistfully. "But I'm not ready to give up the sea just yet."

"You going to wait until you get a girl too?" he asked teasingly.

"Watch it," Sirius joked, poking him with the butt of the knife. "I'm getting on in years and I doubt I'll be finding a lady. You're the one who needs to get to work on finding a wife. Make sure she's a spunky thing."

"Anyway," Harry told him, "Do you think you can help us out and get to Mer Island?"

"Does a chicken lay eggs?" the captain laughed as he got up and went to his door. "Raise up the yard you deck-handed deck-apes! We're making way to Mer Island!"

**(Ah… didn't see that coming did you?)**


	10. Mer Island

**Chapter 9: Mer Island**

The storm continued around them for some time, but eventually, it finally passed and the sky was soon clear. Once the storm disappeared, the trio suddenly remembered something.

"So you were on a ship with other people?" Sirius asked once they told him what happened. "But they disappeared?"

"Yeah," Ron said at once. "There were at least twenty on board and when the storm came, we were told to go down below deck. But once it got really bad, we went up on deck to see what was going on. But when we got there we didn't see anyone."

"They couldn't have just disappeared," Hermione told him, anxiously. "Either they abandoned ship, or were washed off deck."

"All of them?" Harry asked.

"It was a big storm…" Hermione said slowly.

"I don't see how that's possible," Sirius said as the sun slowly poked it's head out from the clouds and warming the ship with its rays. "Sure, if it had just been one or two of them then sure, I'd believe they'd been washed away. But the whole crew in one storm?"

"How about they just abandoned us?" Hermione asked.

"No," Sirius said. "No real sailors would abandon their ship unless it was about to go down. That was a rough storm, and little lifeboats wouldn't have stood a chance. Even if the ship was sinking, it would've been safer to stay on board until they had to leave."

"But then what else could've happened?" Hermione asked and Sirius only shrugged. "Don't know. Real head-scratcher there. But good thing is that you all made it out alive."

"I just hope they did to," Harry muttered and Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happened, if they had been on that ship, they almost certainly would've drown. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure they're fine. Now, help us with the yard here!"

He then began barking orders. "The ship was banged up in the storm and we're going to stop by Mer Island to get it repaired before we take these kids back alright!? Any complaints?"

"None Captain!" they all called back.

"Then get to work!" he screamed at the men, as they pushed the wheel to raise the extremely heavy anchor. "We have to get a move on! We have to be at port as soon as possible! So stop lollygagging!"

For the two days, the trio stayed on deck and helped with whatever they could as they continued sailing on. Ron now knew that if he spent the rest of his life out at sea, he'd never be able to handle a sailor's life like these guys. But he had learned a great deal of things about pirates. These guys were guilty of nothing but loving their freedom… he loved to sit up and listen to them sing songs about their travels and tell stories of all the places they had seen.

He soon grew very fond of them all in no time at all and was also laughing with them all. He couldn't wait to tell this to Fred and George when he got back—he couldn't help but wonder if they'd believe him… well, if Harry and Hermione were there then maybe?

During the late afternoon on the second day, one of the men in the crow's nest called out, "LAND HO!"

Sirius grabbed a spyglass and looked through it to where a small island was quickly growing larger.

"How long?" he called.

"Cap'ain, about an hour from port!" he hollered from his post atop the sails. Sirius nodded up to his crew member, and walked across deck to the wheel house, slowly directing the ship towards land.

After another hour or so, they had all landed and had run the ship ashore.

"Once high tide comes back in we'll be able to leave," Sirius told them once they had touched down on soft sand. "But we'll still be here for about two days, judging from the damage. We'll wait until you get what you need from the village."

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry grinned.

"Course," he grinned as he ruffled his hair fondly. He then pointed up towards a ridge. "I've been to the village a few times. Go up there, and you should be able to see a road. Follow that road and you'll be at the village in no time."

"Thanks, Sirius," Ron said before he then asked, "By the way, why do they call it Mer Island?"

"You don't know?" Sirius asked and began laughing. "Why spoil it for you? You'll understand as soon as you see the village. Oh!" he said thinking something over. "Look for a lady named Murcus. She'll be more than happy to help you guys out. We'll be here if you need us."

"Thanks again," Harry called as he gave his godfather the pirate a quick hug and they went up the slope, and like Sirius had said, there was a long, winding road in the distance.

"This is great," Ron said, feeling more upbeat than he had in a long time. "We finally seem to be getting somewhere!"

Together they made their way up the length of sand with the sun rising behind them; the sand was soft and warm. Sometimes they passed fallen palm leaves and small and big rocks making small rock pools from where the tied had come in from the night. Walking side by side they made their way around the island finding nothing but sand, rocks and leaves the sun was fully risen in the sky and they were hungry.

They jogged along the road, wondering what the village was going to be like. Thankfully, the map and Dumbledore's message that Hermione had were still there—having been charmed by Dumbledore to make it impossible for them to get ruined by water or sun.

"So all we have to do is go there and show them this letter, get the stone, and then head back to Sirius and the others," she said, also sounding dangerously optimistic. "Then we'll head back to the harbor and head north to get the sword."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry said smiling. "Oh! I think I see a lake!"

He did… but when they got nearer, their jaws dropped. It was a beautiful lake… sparkling in the bright sunlight as if the surface had been made of diamonds… but they didn't see anything… at least until at that moment, a mermaid jumped out of the lake, her fins flashing in the sunlight.

Their jaws dropped as she spun in the air and gave a great dive into the water.

They stood there, staring.

"I guess we just found out why this place is call 'Mer Island'," Harry said as he stared at the water.

"Merfolk," Ron and Hermione both gasped out, still gawking at the water.

"So the stone should be at the bottom of the lake?" Ron asked, as he cautiously made his way to the water's edge.

"Hey?" he called. "How do we get in? I mean… can anyone here breathe underwater."

"Yes," Hermione said, a little smile back on her face as soon as she came out of her shock. "There is a way."

"How?" Harry asked. She grinned as she pointed to some weed growing just below the surface in the shallow parts of the lake.

"Gillyweed!" Hermione gasped, kicking off her shoes and socks before she went wading through the water and grabbing a handful of the slimy-looking weed. "Just a handful of this stuff will let you breath underwater for an hour!"

"How do you know?" Ron asked startled as Harry took off his boots and followed her. She gave a _'shut up I know what I'm doing'_ look and swallowed some of the plant. Ron watched skeptically for a few moments as Harry pulled out a handful as well and swallowed. It happened suddenly…

Hermione suddenly grabbed hold of her neck, gasping for breath. Fear gripping his heart he went splashing out to them both for Harry was also holding onto his neck. That's when Ron saw it… GILLS!

There were gills growing on their necks… skin was stretching across their fingers, and their toes were growing at an alarming rate. His two friends both dove straight into the water and disappeared beneath the waves.

Ron stood there with his jaw opened in shock before a splash from Hermione's new flippered feet brought him back to his senses. "H-HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" he yelled, diving for some of the plant and swallowing as much as he could stick into his mouth. He knelt there in the water for a short time, thinking that it wasn't working, but then he suddenly couldn't breathe.

He gasped, his hands going up to his neck, feeling the little slits on either side of his neck appear. Then he flung himself into the water, breathing the water and getting the air he needed as the liquid passed over his gills. He opened his eyes and could see the strong rays of sunshine in the water, making everything crystal clear. He could see them… Harry and Hermione were testing out their new webbed hands and feet, obviously enjoying themselves.

Ron looked down at his hands and his feet as well and could see that they had changed as well. He grinned widely as he joined them in their water dance. He couldn't wait to tell Fred and George this when he got home.

Once they were done playing around, remembering that they had to get down to the village, they dove down. Down… down… down…

The light was so bright, the sand so clean that they couldn't help but stop and stare at all the rainbow colored coral that was glittering from the sun. the fish, of all different sizes and colors swam around them, like birds in a blue sky… he saw Hermione stretch out in the warm sand for a moment before he heard her laugh.

"Can you hear me?" she asked him, her voice was oddly faint and echoed a bit in the water, as if he was speaking to her at the other end of a tunnel. He nodded, "Yeah," he called back. "I can hear you fine."

"This is so cool!" Harry laughed as he reached out, trying to grab one of the silver fish that darted past his face, but he missed by a mile as it went off in one direction. They all laughed as they continued to go down to where it was darker.

By the time that they found the bottom of the lake, it was very difficult to see anything by… but they could still make out the forms of what looked like buildings in the distance.

"This way!" Harry called, taking charge and leading the way as they followed.

"You think that they'll help us?" Hermione asked nervously as they drew nearer and nearer.

"Dumbledore said they would so long as we brought the letter right?" Ron asked and he watched as Hermione went to her pocket and pulled out the letter.

"Yes," she said, and she looked a little more reassured. "All we have to do is find this Murcus person that Sirius said and show her this."

Once they were near enough, they could see that the buildings were made of a strong, rainbow coral like the ones they saw earlier. There were mermaids and mermen there… dozens of them all swimming around, some playing music on coral instruments, others were playing game in the streets of sand…

When they approached, they eyed them all warily, but they didn't do anything but keep a close watch on them. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Harry asked the first merman he saw, who was tending to a garden of seaweed and asked if he knew someone named Murcus.

"Near the temple," he before he picked up his spear and went back into the house.

"To the point," Ron told the other two.

"At least they're not attacking us," Hermione muttered nervously as they continued off. They continued walking for what felt like a mile before they saw a great temple made of stone and shell. That was where a particularly wild looking mermaid was there, looking for something among the seaweed bushes in front of the building.

Ron and Hermione looked to him and Harry gulped as he made his way forward. "Ah… e-excuse me?" he called to her. She stopped and looked over at them.

"Yes?" he called gruffly.

Harry summoned up his courage and asked, "Are you Murcus?"

"Yes," she said in a song-like voice, now looking at them in curiosity, "Now, you know my name, but why do I not know yours? What brings humans here?"

Harry looked to Hermione, who had already fished out the letter and handed it to him. Harry swept forward and held the note out to her. Once again, glad that the paper was waterproof. "We-we were sent here by a man named Albus Dumbledore. He said that something very important was being kept here. We're here to get it for him."

"Oh!" she said smiling. "You know the old man?"

"Yes," Harry said a little more confidently. "He sent us here."

"That explains it," Murcus said looking at the message. "But why you?"

"We're here to pick up a stone for him," Harry said at once. "Is it here?"

"Yes," she answered, and Harry looked back at the other two to see their faces lighten up in excitement. "It's in the temple. We've been keeping it here for him since he gave it to us over fifty years ago."

"Fifty years?" Ron repeated, coming forward.

"Yeah," she sighed drifting off towards the front doors. "Said a great tragedy fell on good friends of his and we're keeping it safe until someone comes for it."

"Well," Harry said. "We're here to get if for him. So could you help us? Sirius said…"

"Ah!" she laughed. "So you know Sirius too?"

"Yes!" Harry smiled. "He's my godfather."

"Godfather?" she repeated, before her eyes widened. "Are you him? Harry? Sirius talks about you all the time."

"Really?" Harry laughed. "Yeah. That's my name."

She grinned again before she led the way through the temple. "I am pleased to have finally met you. Sirius goes on and on about you every time he comes here."

"I'm flattered," Harry laughed as she pushed the doors open, leading them inside with a flick of her glittering tail.

"What's this temple for, Murcus?" Hermione asked, looking around interested.

"Built years ago," she explained simply. "We use it to store food for the year, and for the stone's protection."

They all looked up eagerly as she led them to the wall directly opposite them and pushed it open to lead them to a room near the back. "His orders," she told them. "He said that if anyone ever came to the island looking for it, then to take them here. If they're really here on his orders, then they'll be able to get it."

"Jeez," Ron muttered glancing around at the dark and gloomy hall. "Dumbledore, could you have picked a creepier place to hide something?"

There was something there leaning against the back wall.

"What's that?" Hermione asked as she went forward. "Oh, wow!"

Standing there in the center of the room was a tall, ancient mirror that stood about ten feet high. Harry couldn't explain it—but he felt a strange draw coming from it… almost as if it had been waiting here for them and it was softly calling his name. Even in this darkness he had been able to read gibberish words etched along the top.

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_

"What's that mean?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I-I don't know," she answered truthfully. She swam cautiously forward and started to examine it. "I don't see anything special about it. She looked around to the back side of the mirror to see if there was anything there while Ron looked in the corners of the chamber. Harry stared up at the top of the mirror's words for a moment before he drifted right in front of it.

For a moment nothing happened. But then his reflection, of him swimming there, had changed. Instead of seeing himself with gills and fins, floating through the water as if flying… he was standing there, looking like he normally did on two legs and gill less.

He came forward, trying to get a better look at what was happening. Just then someone appeared behind him… bubbles burst from his mouth as he let out a muffled cry of surprise. It was her. The girl from his dreams… How… Why was she here?

He turned around in excitement, convinced that she was there as well… but she wasn't.

The only one behind him was Ron, who was still looking in the corners for anything. Frowning, Harry turned back to the mirror, and to his delight, there she was again. But what was going on? She was standing there in a beautiful green dress—the same one she was always in—and was standing right behind him. He stretched out his hand… but felt nothing except for water behind him.

Was he just losing his mind? Just what kind of mirror was this? Just then, his reflection self turned to her. She smiled at him and held up her arms to show a small, blood-red stone in her hands. He stared as she then handed it to his reflection who put it into his pocket… his eyes never leaving hers.

And the instant he did, Harry felt something pressing against his side and he slowly reached his webbed hand into his own pocket.

He stared, as if transfixed by the girl's face, as she continued to smile at him. His heart suddenly started beating faster and he was more confused than ever.

"What's going on Harry?" Ron asked as he noticed that Harry hadn't moved. Hermione came out from behind the mirror as well.

"Harry?" she asked concerned.

Wordlessly, Harry simply pulled his hand out of the pocket and held the little red stone. Predictably, they gasped.

"Harry?" she gasped, leaning in to look at it. "How…?"

He suddenly came back to life, as if breaking from a trance. "What?" he asked startled and confused as he looked around at them.

"How did you get it?" Ron asked, taking the stone from his hand and staring at it.

"I… I don't know," Harry stuttered, his hand going up to his head, trying to remember what happened. "I was just looking into the mirror, and my reflection…"

"I only see you," Ron said looking at it as well.

Harry stared at her and at Ron, "You don't see her?"

"I only see us," Hermione said carefully. "What do you mean her?"

"But…" Harry gasped, but then he stood back, "Try being where I am."

Ron did, but as soon as he moved, the girl had disappeared and he was there with his friends. Ron though, was staring as if transfixed at the glass.

"Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I… I see now what you mean," Ron gasped, his face turning slightly red.

"You see the girl?" Harry asked.

"What girl?" Ron asked in surprise.

"That girl," Harry repeated annoyed. "The one with… wait, what are you seeing?"

"I… I do see someone with me, but I see my brothers there," Ron said looking back at the mirror. "They're standing around me, congratulating me. Praising me… telling me I did great…"

He looked back at them and asked, "You think that this mirror shows the future? You think that we really are able to save them?!"

"I don't know," Hermione said, moving forward so that she could see into it.

"Well?" Harry asked. "What do you see, Hermione?"

"I see…" she whispered, and Harry had never seen her look more uncomfortable. "Nothing."

But Harry could tell she was lying.

"Look," she said at once, looking back at them. "We have the stone now don't we? Let's just go… I want to get back to the ship. I'm sure they must be wondering where we are by now."

"Ok," Ron sighed, looking longingly at the glass, but he didn't say anything else.

Harry pulled out his moleskin pouch and offered to put the stone in there. Once it was safely inside, he tucked it inside his shirt and turned with them. But before they left, he turned back to see the mirror… and for a moment, saw the girl there standing beside him once again. Why did he see her?

They left after that, thanked Murcus and swam straight for the surface. None of them ever suspecting what the mirror truly meant.

**(What do you all think? Any ideas for future challenges they'll have to get through to get the sword and the key? Please tell me if you have any ideas!)**


	11. Along the Moonlit Shore

**Chapter 10: Along the Moonlit Shore**

They walked right back to the shore and when Sirius saw them, he called out to them happily. They talked, laughed, and partied on the shore with him and the rest of the crew. There was a large bonefire going while they told their stories. Even Harry was able to forget his problems and had fun like everyone else. But when the night wore on, and he finally passed out on the sand, he shut his eyes just listening to the waves rock him to sleep.

Maybe it was because of the mirror's reflection… but that night he dreamt of her again.

_*Dream*_

_When he opened his eyes again, for a moment, he thought that it was morning, until he saw that he was alone and it looked as if time had been turned back so that he was watching the sun set. He was still on the shores of a beach, but it looked different at the same time. He sat up, the warm sand felt nice on his hands as he pushed his arm out. The white, foamy waves lapped up on the sand—which was as fine as flour. He looked around and sure enough… there she was._

_She was a few yards away, sitting on a large piece of driftwood as she gazed out at the ocean and the cries of a couple seagulls as they swooped low over the water. _

_Feeling happier than he had all evening, he got up and came over to see her. She glanced up at his footsteps and beamed. "You came back," she said softly._

"_I always do," he answered back as he always did as he sat down right next to her and together they watched the sunset. "What's your name?" he asked and she answered the same._

"_Why ask a question you already know?"_

"_Because you might remember now," he said, almost automatically and they both laughed._

"_So what happened to you?" she asked, turning her full attention onto him, her eyes bright. "Did anything happen?"_

"_Well, we found our friend," he told her. "I told you about him didn't I? How we were looking for Remus, Tonks, and Teddy? Remus helped us get a ship to Mer Island."_

"_Mer Island?" she asked. "Why is it called Mer Island?"_

"_Because there's merfolk there," he grinned at the look of amazement on her face. "Oh! Please go on!"_

"_Ok," he laughed. "Well, we were making our way there, but then we got caught in a storm."_

"_And then what happened?" she asked eagerly. _

"_The crew disappeared," he answered, watching the yellows, reds, and oranges in the sky mix together._

"_Disappeared?" she repeated in shock. "How could they have disappeared? What do you mean?"_

"_I mean, when we went on deck, they were gone," he told her at once. _

"_It sounds like magic," she said softly, unconsciously moving along the driftwood so that she could sit closer to him._

"_I know," he answered, "But the waves came and the ship was torn apart. But my godfather came by and pulled us in."_

"_Your godfather?" she repeated startled. "Oh, yes. You've mentioned him before. Sirius right?"_

"_Right," he answered. "He came and fished us out and finished taking us the rest of the way to the island."_

"_Wow, what are the odds?" she asked staring at him. "Of finding your godfather right when you needed him?"_

"_I know," he said. And then he went into more details about the ship that Sirius had, the crew, the island and the merfolk village. She just sat there and listened to every word that he had to say. He watched as she shut her eyes and tried to put in as much details as he could for her so that she could picture it in her mind._

_Suddenly having an idea, he reached into his pouch and pulled out the stone. He then took her hand and put it gently in her palm. At the touch, she looked down and stared at the red stone that was glowing in the few remaining rays of light._

"_Is this it?" she asked, holding it up so that she could see it. "The Stone that you were looking for?"_

"_Yep," he said, smiling at her childlike curiosity. "You want to know what's crazy? I think you helped me get it?"_

"_What?" she asked, looking up at him in bewilderment._

"_I was looking in this mirror, and you were there," he told her. "You—or rather your reflection gave it to me."_

_She turned red as he explained exactly how he got the stone. He talked more about the effects of gillyweed and the world that lay beneath the surface. He saw her eyes close in longing, and he knew that she was aching to see something like that._

_Ease washed over him as the sea breeze swept over them, and he could smell the hints of vanilla on her skin and in her hair as it fluttered around her face._

_"So tell me," the girl said, looking over her shoulder at him. Her hand brushed away hair, gently tucking it behind her ear. "Why do you keep coming back here? I think that I've asked you before, but I don't know if you've ever given me an answer."_

_Harry frowned as he leaned back on his hands to think that question over. "I don't know," he finally said. "I guess for some good company…"_

_She laughed again as he then told her about the party that he and the others had on the beach with Sirius and the rest of the crew. They talked for so long, that the sun had long since went down and the whole world was cast in moonlight. The night was so beautiful. A thousand stars, like shimmering sequins clung onto the velvet. And a large luminescent white moon was pinned right in the middle, shining on them as if it was a spotlight._

_When they ran out of things to talk about, they looked up to see the moon there, both of them a little surprised to see that it was there, not realizing just how much time had passed. _

_"That's a very beautiful moon," she commented suddenly, peering up at the sky and tucking a strand of her rebellious red hair behind her ear again._

_"Yes," Harry agreed, glancing at the slivery ball. Harry's eyes fell upon her, and suddenly he spoke, not realizing what he said until it came out of his mouth._

_"You look different," he managed in a hushed voice._

_"In a good way, or a bad way?" she questioned bravely, fiddling with the sleeves of her dress._

_Harry pretended to scrutinize her for a moment._

_"I didn't recognize you," Harry added. She frowned at him before she stood up and let the gentle breeze lick her face with moisture and the sweetness of salt._

_As he watched her, he only just realized how beautiful she really was. Her hair was free and flowing freely behind her in the wind. He could make every curve of her silhouette in the moonlight. She was beautiful, like a goddess come to the world. Her face was rosy and healthy and had eyes the color of the warm earth. _

_He looked up to the sky and saw the stars puncturing the darkness with their illuminations. The clouds were dark, separated as the moon shown upon the foaming mouth, rolling over the murky shore. _

_She blushed and bit her lip, trying to keep from looking him in the eye. She brought her attention to the wisping clouds and strewn across the knolls. The rustling sound of the water as it crashed along the shoreline, pulling away the corrosive sand and replacing it with seaweed and urchin._

"_You ever walked along the beach?" he then asked her._

_She looked at him in surprise. "No," she said. "This is my first time here."_

_Harry then kicked off his shoes and told her to do the same. She pulled off her dainty slippers and they left them near the wood as he took her along the moonlit beach. _

_She obviously never felt anything like the sand squished between her toes, for as she walked, she seemed lost by the feeling. As Harry watched the foamy waves lap on land he had an idea. He looked at her and asked, "How expensive was this dress?" _

_She blinked at his sudden question and shrugged, "I don't know. But what's that got to do with-?" Before she could say another word, Harry grabbed her waist and picked her up so that he could fling her out into the water. She let out a yelp at the cool liquid, bedraggling her clothing._

_Harry laughed at her as she fearfully tried to fight the small waves knocking her down. She looked like a cat getting splashed; surprised, frantic. The girl glared at him, tugging her dress from the water._

_"Why in hell did you do that to me?" she wailed, choking on a bit of the water._

_He grinned as he dove straight into the water after her, trying not to think of the way her clothes hugged her curves in the night's glow. "Live a little!" he said, popping up, a little farther into the water._

_She could only stare at him before she started to laugh. She reached down and pulled out a large chunk of seaweed and flung it after him. "You're such a jerk!" she called as the seaweed hit him full in the face._

_Roaring with laughter, she came splashing out to dunk his head. "I'm going to get you for that!" she cried playfully, feeling his warm body against hers._

_They ran in the surf, as he taught her how to swim. Which would've been easier if she didn't have that ball gown dress on; but he didn't comment on that as they continued to laugh and splash around underneath the light of the full moon. _

_Once he was sure that she got the hang of it, they both dove down and he showed her the world that he had told her about. The moon was shining through the water, much like how the sun had done earlier… only this time it was her by his side. _

_He looked to her smiling face, her clothes and red hair waving about her face. His heart started to beat a little faster as he took her hand and they dove down deeper. They spotted the fish darting away from them as they explored the coral reefs that sparkled like jewels in the low light. _

_He couldn't take his eyes off the look of wonder on her face as she stared around at everything. Only coming up to get a few gulps of air, they swam on for what felt like hours—her hand felt warm in his own as they played in the water like seals._

_Finally, exhausted, they had one last look at their private world before they wearily went back to the shore. Gasping for air, they allowed the waves to gently carry them back to the shore. But on the way, her hand slipped from his…_

"_Hey!" he called as the next wave came more forcefully than before and he was lying on the edge of the sand, too tired to move. He tried to get up, but she came on the next wave, and landed right on top of him._

"_Oh, I'm sorry," she gasped as she rolled off him so that they were lying side-by-side… Harry could only shake his head, silently telling her that it was ok… while at the same time, trying not to think how they were lying in each other's arms like this. _

_They both looked at each other grinning, as the waves continued to wash up around them, making them both feel weightless for brief moments before it went away, leaving them even more exhausted than before._

"_That was… fun," she giggled at him, her face a bright red. "I'm almost glad that you could've ruined my dress."_

_He grinned at her. "If this is a dream, then it wouldn't matter."_

_She frowned slightly at those words before she laid her head on his outstretched arm. "But is this a dream?"_

"_I don't know, isn't it?" he asked. She reached over and took his hand—she felt so warm and the water was so cold that lapped his body, and he could feel the soft sand underneath him. "But it all feels so real…"_

_He looked long and hard at her, wondering why he felt this way… yet, as the sea churned and played its familiar tune, it pushed logic to the wayside and replaced it with something as wild as a siren's call._

"_You're real to me," she sighed… and at those words, he shut his eyes. "Come back soon."_

_*End of Dream*_

Harry was being shaken awake by one of the crewmate and he looked around grumpily. "What?" he asked as he looked around. He was still on the shore of the ocean, but the sun was low in the sky, slowly rising.

"It's morning," the crewmate said. "We need all the help we can get if we're going to get the ship back together. Let's go."

Harry yawned as he pushed himself up. He felt the stone against his chest and said, "It was a dream… but…" he looked up to see the others were getting up as well. "Or was it?"

**(Well? What do you all think? Anyone have any ideas to the next place that he's going to meet her? I'd love to hear any suggestions. And I think it was about time for a little more romance here. Hope you enjoyed it.)**


	12. Not a Pirate's Life

**Chapter 11: Not a Pirate's Life**

For the rest of their second day on Mer Island, they spent it finishing up repairs on the _Marauder_. It wasn't until the morning of the third day did Sirius yell at them all to set sail so that he could take the three of them back up.

The smooth wind ruffled the ocean as the gulls cried overhead happily. The wild waves lapping up against boat that sliced through the choppy sea. The wind battered the white sails and shaking the pirate flag that was high upon the ship. A mellow screech sliced through the chattered and calls of the deck.

A young kid named Cedric was shuffling a deck of cards. "You know how to play cards?" he asked good-naturedly.

"A little," Harry answered, coming out of his depressing thoughts.

He pulled his chair closer to the table and picked up his cards before he glanced up when someone offered him a swig of a bottle. He stared at the bottle before grabbing it and placing the mouth of it to his lips. He took a generous gulp and nearly spat it back up.

"What the hell is that?" he croaked trying hard not to cough.

"Rum," he answered, looking ready to laugh.

"You're kidding," he said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "This stuff is as bad as sewage"

"We know," he answered sadly "but this is the only decent thing to drink around here. Except water…" he shuddered.

"Hell and back," Harry shook his head in disgust, "Try to taste the bloody thing before you buy it next time."

"Easier said than done," he laughed, holding out the cards he then said, "You wanna shuffle?"

They continued to play for nearly two hours. Sometimes he won, but most of the time he continued to lose as badly as possible. After a few more rounds, Harry left, before he owed Cedric even more money, and went up on deck to find Sirius or his friends.

To his delight, he spotted Sirius standing there at the edge of the ship, watching the waves. Harry watched him curiously before he walked forward. "Have any plans once we'll anchor?" he asked his godfather.

Sirius shrugged, "Get a drink. And then we'll sail on to Diagon Alley"

"How exciting," he said with a smile "You've got business in Diagon Alley?"

"I merchandise with some people there," Sirius answered.

"Like thieving?" he asked knowingly.

Sirius gave him a pointed look "You can't steal something that's already belongs to you in the first place. And besides, I never steal, I take a loan from pirates."

"With intendance to never give it back?" Harry finished for him.

Sirius laughed as he ruffled his hair. Harry then said, "You should be careful Captain… people might start to suspect that you actually have a sense of humor."

Sirius chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?"

Harry looked up at him in surprise. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. Just felt like it needed to be said."

Harry looked at him long and hard and asked, "You don't seem to be having as much fun as you usually do. I've noticed it when you last came to visit us at the farm last year. You hardly talked about life on the high seas anymore."

He sighed. "No, I guess not," he said moodily.

"Maybe it's about time you found yourself a girl?" Harry suggested with a laugh.

"You're starting to sound like the crew," he said with his eyebrows raised. "I guess I'm just becoming an old salt. What can you do? I can't give up life of being a pirate just yet… but it is becoming rather boring now… but to live life on the land in a house or on a farm? I don't think I can do it. I guess that I just miss my best friends."

Harry gave him a sad look. "You know… why don't you go and visit Remus and Tonks? Teddy's just starting to walk, and Tonks's been dropping hints about giving him a little brother or sister."

Sirius burst out laughing. "Ah, you know, I think I will. If only James and Lily still lived near the shore…"

"We've been talking about moving back to the beach for some time," Harry told him.

"Great," Sirius said beaming. "More visits! That's what I need!" He laughed again, before he threw his arm around his godson's shoulders. "It's been to long since the two of us had anything fun to do together."

"Well," Harry said sadly. "We've still got to help Ron out. But maybe, once we do, I'll come back and go out to sea with you?"

Sirius chuckled. "Maybe one or two adventures out at sea… but I don't think that you'd be happy with a pirate's life."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I mean you'd be great at sea," Sirius said hurriedly. "But, well for one thing, your mother would skin me alive…"

"I'm of age now," Harry reminded him. "I should've left home a little while ago… me and Hermione had been talking about leaving for a little while…"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "James told me in one of his letters."

"Dad knew?" he asked in surprise.

"Yep," Sirius nodded. "He didn't mean to… he overheard you and Hermione talking one day… well, it's only natural for the young to want to leave the nest sooner or later… but you need to be careful. It's not easy making your way in the world."

"I know," Harry muttered. "At home, there was always a warm bed and a hot meal… we didn't have to go far to get it. Here, we only just started out on our journey a few days ago and we almost drowned."

"You're doing great, kid," Sirius said clapping him on the shoulder. "And maybe we'll try you out as a sailor… but something tells me that you've got something else… or rather someone else on your mind?"

"What?" Harry asked in surprise.

"You were standing here looking out at the sea yesterday," he said knowingly. "I know that look. Everyone in the crew gets it once in awhile… it's when you're thinking about someone special. Right?"

"I was just thinking about that dream, Sirius," Harry told him firmly.

"The one with that girl?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows rose even higher.

"Sirius, it's not a joke," Harry told him. "When I'm dreaming, it's like I'm someplace else… they're too real…"

Sirius frowned. "Well, I can't really help you there."

Harry sighed in frustration. "I only wish I knew what they meant. I mean, I don't know the girl… I don't even know her name. It's like… like…" he trailed off, unable to explain it.

Sirius smiled and ruffled his hair fondly. "You'll be fine. You always are."

Harry gave him a grateful look. "I just wish I knew what to do."

Sirius took a quick swig of rum. "You're your parent's son," he said simply. "Live how you want… it's what they always did."

Harry beamed at him. "That's true. If they didn't I probably wouldn't be here."

Sirius laughed again and shielded his eyes against the sun to see off into the distance. "We'll be at the harbor soon," he said. "We'll go and see Remus… and then we'll pay a quick visit to your parents. We'll let them know that you're doing just fine."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully. He watched his godfather leave… he was only able to see Sirius a few times a year, but each meeting was something special for him. He wished that he could see him more often…

He leaned back and watched as the harbor drew nearer and nearer, wondering how what he should do. As much as he loved the ocean, he had a feeling that Sirius was right… he wasn't meant to be a pirate. But if that's the case then what was he born for? He felt the stone under his clothes and wondered what this all meant.

*Later*

They got off at the dock and went straight over to see Remus and Tonks who were thrilled to see them again so soon. But Remus was horrified to hear about the ride over. They stayed over for the next day, and headed off on their own the next morning. But Harry was happy. Sitting with his friends, Remus and his family, and Sirius was one of the best days he'd had in a long time.

The trio traveled north this time—heading up into the mountains.

"So where are we supposed to go this time?" Ron asked Hermione, who was looking at the map again.

"There's some kind of temple, I think, near the top of the mountain here," she said.

"You mean we have to go up a mountain now?" Harry groaned.

"Well, no," she told him. "It's on the mountain, but not on the top. It's alright. There's a trail that leads up to it. Looks like we only have to walk a little ways."

"That's good," he answered, brightening up slightly. "So let's get going!"


	13. Coming Round the Mountain

**Chapter 12: Coming Round the Mountain**

For the next five days, the trio continued along the same dirt road, wondering what kind of challenge they would have to do to get the sword.

"And you're sure that it's the sword that we're after here?" Ron asked as he helped himself to some dry bread. "Or is it the key?"

"It's definitely the sword," Hermione said. "At least, that's what it says here on the map. It's near the top of this mountain, but there's supposed to be a wide path for us to take. All we have to do is stay on it and sooner or later, we should reach some kind of village. That's where the sword is. It also says here that there should be a man named… Hagrid?"

"Hagrid?" Ron repeated. "Odd name now isn't it?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "Well, this here says that we should look for a man named Hagrid, and he should be able to help us out."

"I'm starting to agree with Ron on this…" Harry sighed. "Dumbledore's really messing with us."

No one bothered to disagree as they reached the foot of a wide path. "We follow this," Hermione said pointing ahead. "As high as we can go."

And that was how it went for two whole days. They continued to travel up a slowly winding road up passed boulders and moss-covered stones. The cliffs grew wider, the mountain taller as they continued going.

It was tall, and jagged, the rock a pale and dusty sort of grey, thick clouds of dark grey swamping the very highest point of the rock giant. There was snow enshrouding it, making it look like a Winter Wonderland.

The air around them turned frosty and their breath was now visible. Snowflakes began to fall and whilst they trudged on, as the snow crunched underneath them.

They bound themselves up in the blankets they used to camp out—but that idea was crazy in this chilling weather. Onwards they climbed, enjoying the view of the shrinking earth beneath them. It was when they turned the last corner of the road did they see something in the distance.

"Is that it?!" Harry called, though his voice had been muffled thanks to his blanket. He stood up and strained his eyes to see what was going on. "It sure looks like a village!"

"Thank God!" Ron muttered, his teeth chattering together. "I don't know how much more I can take."

They road forward, all of them dreaming longingly of a roaring fire and some hot food with a warm bed when they got there. At least until they finally got to the village.

Their jaws dropped. The village was huge! Not just how many houses—there were only a handful of wooden cabins, but the houses and even the people were GIANTS! They stared a giant woman, about five times their size walk in front of them, leading a young child, who was taller than they were.

They gulped, and the horse tossed his head in fear. Hermione jumped down and calmed him down, stating that they had to go on foot from now on.

Throwing a spare blanket over their horse's back, they cautiously made their way into the village, staring at everything around them. It looked just like any other village—just giant sized.

"So what now?"

"We find this Hagrid person, get the sword, and get the hell out," Ron muttered, rubbing his arms so that he could get some feeling back in his frozen fingers.

Once they saw one of the giants coming out of his wooden cabin and they asked where a man named Hagrid lived. "Caves," the giant grunted before he picked up his club and continued on his way as if no one spoke.

"Not very talkative are they?" Ron asked as the giant lumbered off.

"At least they're not attacking us," Hermione muttered nervously as they continued off. "This is like the merfolk village all over again."

"I think even the merfolk seemed friendlier than this place," Ron muttered. They continued walking for what felt like a mile before they saw a great cave made of stone on the hill overlooking them all. Upon arriving outside a giant cave.

That was where a particularly small giant was there, at least smaller than the ones they've see so far, and he was tending to a chicken coop.

Ron and Hermione looked to him and Harry gulped as he made his way forward. "Ah… e-excuse me?" he called to the giant. He stopped and looked over at them. He looked wild with that mess of black hair and beard, large hands that could've easily squeezed them to death, and black eyes.

"Yes?" he called gruffly.

Harry summoned up his courage and asked, "Are you Hagrid?"

The giant's brow crinkled and he straighten up. "Yes," Hagrid said. "But 'ow you know that? I don't remember ever seein' you here?"

Harry looked to Hermione, who had already fished out the letter and handed it to him. Harry walked forward and held the note out. "We-we were sent here by a man named Albus Dumbledore. He said that something very important was being kept here. We're here to get it for him."

"Oh!" Hagrid said, any suspicion disappearing. "You know Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes," Harry said a little more confidently. "He sent us here."

"Arr, great man, Dumbledore," Hagrid said looking at the message. "He's been nothin' but kind ter everyone here. Comes for a visit all the time. But why would he send yer all?"

"It's a long story," Harry answered. "It's too long for right now… but we need to get the sword that's here for him? Do you know where it is?"

"Yes," Hagrid said, and Ron bounded forward like a dog who's master was about to take him for a walk. "It's in the cave. We've been keeping it here for 'im since he gave it to us years ago. Said it was important or somethin'."

"Have ter go and take yeh up on that," he beamed and led abandoned the coop and led them to the entrance to the cave.

"Careful," he warned them. "This 'ere cave stretches fer miles all over. When yar go in, there'll be three ways you can go. Take the middle road right? That'll get you to some stairs I think…" he added frowning. "It's been awhile…"

The three glanced at each other in worry. "It's down there," he went on. "I'm afraid you have ter go and get it on yeh own."

"Why?" Ron asked at once, suddenly nervous.

"Dumbledore's orders," he answered. "He said that if anyone ever came ter us looking for the sword, then ter take them here. If they're really here on 'is orders, then they'll be able ter get it. Not that I don't trust ya!" he added. "But his orders, ya see?"

"No, we understand," Hermione said at once. "The last village that we in said that to. We'll go and get it. But is there anything we need to know?"

Hagrid shrugged. "Don't know ter tell ya the truth. No one's been down here since Dumbledore put the sword down there."

"Great," Ron muttered and Harry stood on his foot.

"Thanks Hagrid," he answered and he led the way inside with the other two right behind him. The walls were made of a thick, black stone, and there were small torches littering the walls every few feet, just strong enough to see by.

Soon, they came to a cross in the road, just like Hagrid said, there were three paths that they could take…

"He said the middle road was the right one didn't he?" Hermione asked nervously, taking one of the torches off the wall and peering down the entrance that was right in front of them.

"Yeah, but he didn't seem so sure about it now did he?" Ron asked nervously.

"You want to take a chance and risk getting lost down here?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we have to try," Harry said, picking up a torch as well. "We can try leaving behind marks on the wall or something to find our way back."

Ron nodded in agreement as he looked around and found a sharp rock. He then made a little arrow pointing the way out on the wall.

"Ok, that'll work," Hermione said, sounding a little bit better.

Taking a deep breath, Harry led the way down the middle like Hagrid told them, hoping that Hagrid remembered right. The darkness was pressing in on all of them, the feeble rays of light from their torches were the only traces of humanity that seemed to connect them to the outside world. They kept their blankets wrapped around them firmly, wishing that they were back at home with their families… especially Ron…

He was so homesick, he felt the need to cry… _'Why couldn't Fred, George… heck even Percy be here instead?' _he thought bitterly. In a way, he envied his family back home. They were all sleeping peacefully without any idea to what was happening around them… he wished that he could sleep like that right now and have someone else do this journey in his stead. But…

He glanced at Harry and Hermione looking at the walls, trying to see farther down the tunnel, he couldn't bring himself to hate this trip completely. His eyes were fixed on the back on Hermione's bushy, snow-coated hair.

She then glanced back at him and asked if he kept putting the arrows up.

"Huh?" he asked startled. "Ah… yeah… yeah, I am."

Quickly, he then marked a sloppy arrow on the wall. But he couldn't help but wonder what happened to him for that second. He shook his head, pushing it out of his head for now as he followed them. After what felt like an hour, they came to a set of very worn-out staircase, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward.

"Oh," Hermione moaned, as they peered down. "I don't like this. How deep do you think it is?"

Ron picked up a small pebble and tossed it down… for the first few seconds they could hear it rolling along… but soon it became faint, and then an echo… and then nothing.

"I'm guessing a long way," Harry muttered. They glanced at each other anxiously—they had come all this way, they couldn't turn back now. They all then slowly made their way down the long stairs, the darkness seemed deeper and the stairs made their footsteps echo around them.

Eventually, the stairs leveled out, and they was standing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.

"Jeez," Ron muttered, hugging himself again—suddenly feeling cold again. "Dumbledore, could you have picked a creepier place to hide something?"

All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.

Harry took a single step forward, and suddenly fire appeared on more torches, leading down the tunnel and lighting their way like magic.

"C'mon," he said to Ron and Hermione, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor. The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the firelight. Harry led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.

The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two lions had been carved into the stone—both with great ruby eyes.

"Wicked," Ron croaked as they came forward.

"So how do we get in?" Hermione said.

"You think they left a key?" Ron asked sarcastically as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the door—but to his amazement, the door opened at his touch. The lions parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, "Wow," he said. "That was easy."

They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved lions rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, warm shade that filled the place.


	14. Among Blooming Flowers

**Chapter 13: Among Blooming Flowers**

They were in a great cavern, stretching high into a darkened ceiling—one so dark they couldn't see. In front of them were tall, stone columns in the shape of lions. The trio walked among the darkness that seemed to press in on all of them, staring around at anything that would be in the shape of a sword.

When they neared the end of the cavern they saw some torches suddenly come to life so that they could see more… and what was there was a very strange sight.

Ron blinked and rubbed his eyes hard to make sure that he wasn't just seeing things as Harry stared. Hermione walked forward and stuttered, "T-they're a-all…"

"Hats," Ron finished simply.

And so they were… there were hats scattered throughout the room.

Not just any hats though, there were hundreds of them, big ones, small ones, old ones, new ones, some made of cloths, others made of metal, of all different colors and styles all of them fancy or frilly… there were even crowns made of solid gold.

They stared at the hundreds upon hundreds of them, trying to figure out what it meant.

"Ok," Ron said slowly. "What's happening here?"

Hermione strained her eyes, looking around at all the different hats and the walls. "Hey, what's that?!" she called, pointing to the wall at the very end of the room. There were runes carved onto the wall.

Harry held up his torch a little higher, though the room was now full of light and they ran over to see it.

"I can't read it," he said. He then looked to Hermione and asked, "But you studied ancient runes didn't you?"

"Minerva taught me," she nodded as she walked up and placed a hand on the stone. "Let me see… it says _'Put on the hat that only a true sorcerer would wear'_."

They waited, but she didn't say anything else.

"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously.

"That's… it," she answered simply. "Just _'put on the hat that only a true sorcerer would wear'_. It doesn't say anything else."

"Just brilliant," Ron sighed, shaking his head.

"But there are hundreds of them," Harry said, looking around at all the hats, "Where do we start? And what do we do when we found it?"

"I don't know," Hermione snapped. "Just start trying on hats."

And that's what they did.

For hours onward, they sorted through countless hats. Ron would look through the crowns and try each one on in turn before he would look to the next one. Hermione studied the wizard hats as Harry walked around, picking up ones at random and try it on. When nothing spectacular happened, they would just throw them off and start over.

"Ron," Hermione scolded. "Put down those knight helmets! We have to look through these." She then picked up a stack of fancy wizard, pointed hats.

"Why?" he asked, throwing a particular heavy helmet down onto the floor and coming over to her as she began sorting.

"It said a _sorcerer's_ hat didn't it?" she asked. "We need to look at these."

Harry tossed aside an ugly hat with an enormous stuffed vulture on top, and a flowered bonnet in disgust. What where they supposed to do? What if they had already found it and just tossed it aside? And then if they do get their hands on it, what then? Were they supposed to try on every one until something happens?

That's what Ron thought. Starting to get impatient, Ron started grabbing hats at random and putting them on. When nothing happened he would throw them off before grabbing another.

Hermione kept glancing up at the words on the wall and then massaging her temples as if she had a headache.

Harry walked back and forth, wondering what they were to do… suddenly; his eyes fell onto a hat that had been stuffed in a corner. It was so dirty, patched, and frayed that it blended right with the dirt on the floor.

Curious, he walked over and picked it up. As he brushed off the dust he could see that it was another wizard's hat. However, unlike the other new ones, this one looked as if it had been chewed up and spit out by a pack of wolves… there was even a giant rip near the brim…

He was about to throw it back down when his fingers tingled slightly. Blinking he touched the rim again and his tingling went on… as if there was a jolt of energy coming from inside. Not sure why he was doing this, he shook the hat out and put it on.

This one was so big that it slipped down over his eyes and he was left in the dark. Feeling stupid, he was about to pull it off when a sly voice spoke in his ear, "Oh, you found me?"

Letting out a cry of shock, he felt himself fall backwards and onto the floor, the hat still on his head.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice called worriedly.

"Who are you?" Harry asked the hat.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked and he heard her footsteps as she ran over to him. "It's me…"

"No!" he called to her. "The hat! It talked!"

"It what?" Ron shouted from the other end of the room.

"Shut it for a second!" he called, sitting up, his hands on the brim, to keep his friends from ripping it off, as he waited.

And then he heard a little chuckle coming inside the hat, "Surprised?"

"Yes," he said.

"Yes, what?" asked Ron, sounding bewildered.

"Shh…" Harry hissed as the hat started speaking again.

"I'm guessing that you came here looking for something?" it asked. "Well, you found me, but first you must tell me what it is that you want?"

'_I want the sword,'_ Harry thought before he could say the words, but the hat chuckled.

"Oh?" it asked. "The sword? Now why would you want that?"

'_I want it to help my friend,'_ he thought hard, screwing up his eyes as he thought. _'Please help me…'_

"And what is it that you get in return?" the hat asked. "I must say… you are a difficult person…"

'_What do you mean?'_ Harry asked, suddenly feeling frustrated. _'Do I need any other reason? I just need the sword. Once we have that, then we're closer to helping him aren't we?'_

He heard the hat chuckle again.

"Very well…" it said to him. Suddenly, there was a terrible squeezing around his head and something hit him so hard over the head that he saw stars… and then more darkness surrounded him.

_*Dream*_

_He blinked a few times to get the sun out of his eyes._

_There was a bright afternoon sun above him as he lay in a field that was filled flowers of every color. __There were lilies, violets, roses, dandelions and many more that he could not name. __It was like he was __surrounded by a kaleidoscope of peculiar lights, varying in shades and hues. The field of grass held a pristine shade of emerald that matched his eyes, sparkling intensely under the different sources of light from the blue sky. Different flowers of various names and origins were scattered all around him, all of them abnormally big and blooming. Colors harmoniously mingled with one another, making the ground an improvised version of an earthly rainbow._

_The few trees that were scattered far and wide across the green slopes clung on at impossible angles, luscious green blooms thriving among their branches. __The wind blew lightly, filling the warm air with flower petals and their sweet floral scent. He glanced up that the bright, blue sky—not a single cloud to be seen. It was the perfect spring day. _

_At that he heard soft humming and knew who it was at once. _

_Smiling, he got up and calmly began to walk through the field towards the humming, and soon enough he found her. She was kneeling in the grass, surrounded by all the flowers… she had a bright-red flower, though it was pale compared to her red hair, in her hands and was holding it to her face as she breathed it's sweet scent in. _

_Waiting for a moment, he slowly approached her, letting his shoes hit the ground so he would not startle her. She opened her eyes and beamed at the sight of him. "You came back," she smiled._

"_I always do," he answered as he stopped a few feet away. The wind blew around them, the wind causing her hair to fly in gentle waves around her… it was strange as he looked at her…_

_The green dress, the flying red hair with her rosy cheeks made her look like a beautiful rose… prettier than any of the flowers around him… _

_He shook his head hard, trying not to think like that. "What's your name?" he asked, knowing the answer._

_She rolled her eyes with a smile, "Why ask a question you know the answer to? I don't remember…"_

_He laughed as he sat down with her. Her hair blew around gently again and a few stray strands brushed against his face. He stayed silent, not quite knowing how to start a conversation at the moment. After a few moments of silence, she asked, "So where did you go now?" _

_He grinned and quickly told her about climbing the mountain and going into the giant's village. She stared at him as if hypnotized as he focused on watching her slow weave the flowers into a wreath, making it with all the care and precision of an archer's aim. _

_When he told her about the hats she suddenly burst out laughing. _

"_I was expecting—I dunno—a dragon or something dangerous!" she laughed._

_He grinned. "That's what I thought too."_

_No more words passed between them once their laughter died down. Her breathing slowly became normal and he closed his eyes, lying back, he adjusted himself in the field of flowers as he stared at the sky. _

_The bright sun smiled upon them, causing the carpet of colors near the fringes of the field to glow slightly. He turned on his side as he watched her cupped a single flower in her hand, plucking one fragile petal at a time, murmuring softly to herself._

_Pulling off the petals one by one, she said silently, "__He loves me…"__ And with the pull of another petal, "H__e loves me not.__"_

"_What are you doing?" he asked curiously._

"_I heard someone say this once," she said smiling, plucking another petal. "I don't remember who, but I know that I heard it from somewhere. Saying it was a normalcy to do this to see if someone you loved really loved you back."_

"_So who are you thinking of?" he asked, for some reason, feeling a little bit annoyed at that._

_She blushed, and just went on plucking petals as if he didn't say anything, until she reached the last one… "He loves me…"_

_She smiled as watched the wind pick the petal up and it fluttered around limply until it fell on the edge of Harry's nose._

_She laughed loudly as she watched him for a moment before she laid down next to him, her red hair falling around her as she looked into his face. She smiled as she reached over to take the petal off his nose. _

"_What is it?" he asked her. "Why do you look at me like that?"_

"_Like how?" she asked him quietly, the wind ruffling their clothes slightly._

"_Like that," he said… the odd twinkling in her eyes every time she looked at him. Why was that?_

"_I really don't know," she answered, the blush coming back to her face a little._

_He continued to look into those warm, brown eyes and asked her, "I've got a secret… think you can keep it?"_

_She blinked. "Who am I going to tell? You're the only person I see here…"_

_He thought it over before he reached over to remove a strand of her red hair from her face. And before he could stop himself he heard himself say, "I think you're beautiful… you know?"_

_Her face burned red and she sat up straight again, her face turned away from him. He sat up as well… "I'm sorry," he said, his face also burning. "I don't… don't know why I said that but…"_

"_No," Ginny said, turning her red face back to him. "Thank you…" she then reached up to touch his cheek with the tips of her fingers, and he felt as if his skin burned where she touched him, and his heart started to beat a little faster. "And I think that you're rather handsome myself."_

_His eyes never leaving hers, he slowly put his hand up and felt her soft hair through his fingers. What was the matter with him? Why was he feeling this way? He'd known her for a long time, but this was a dream for crying out loud! So why did she feel so solid here with him. His eyes slowly began to close and knew that this dream was coming to an end. _

_He laid back down and she did the same. She took his hand—so soft and warm in his own—"Sleep," she said. "We can talk more next time. Come back soon."_

_Her face was the last thing he saw before his eyes opened._

**(Happy Valentine's Day! I was saving this chapter especially for today! I hope you enjoy it and share this special day with someone you love!)**


	15. The Black Smoke

**Chapter 14: The Black Smoke**

"Harry?" called a familiar voice as if from the opposite end of a long tunnel.

'_Who is it?'_ he thought groggily, his head was pounding so badly as if he had been hit with a club. He let out a loud groan and reached up to touch the painful spot.

"Harry," that same voice called in relief, "Are you ok?"

Not sure what was happening, he cracked his eyes open a little bit and winced at the light that was shining around him.

"He's coming around!" another excited voice cried out. "Mate, are you ok?"

Harry blinked several more times and his vision cleared. He was looking up at Ron and Hermione's anxious faces. His eyes circled around and he realized that they were still in the underground cavern surrounded by mountains of hats.

"Harry," Hermione gasped. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yes," he stuttered, forcing himself to sit up, rubbing his head. "Owww," he hissed in pain. "What hit me?"

"Maybe this?" Ron asked, and Harry goggled at what was in Ron's hands… it was a sword. A long, silver sword with a ruby-encrusted hilt that glinted in this low light.

"How…?" he gasped, staring at it.

"This was what knocked you out," Ron explained quickly. "You just fell to the floor with this old hat on your head. When we pulled it off, this thing was here and you were out cold. We'd been trying to wake you up all this time."

"How long have I been out?" he asked, trying to remember what happened.

"Not too long," Hermione admitted as she helped him up to his feet. "But to get hit with something heavy like that?"

"I'm alright," he said, hissing through his teeth, and giving his head a little shake. "I… I'm just trying to make sense of what's happening."

They gathered up the sword and quickly left the cavern after that, and Harry wasn't at all upset to leave. They met up with Hagrid, surprised to see that it was already dark by the time they found the entrance to the mountain.

When they showed him the sword, Hagrid took them to his hut and allowed them to stay for the night so that they could set out in the morning. While he did enjoy the warm stew and tea that their giant friend offered, and the interesting stories he had to tell, he couldn't get that girl out of his head. It was like the image of her face was plastered on the back of his eyelids, every time he blinked he could see her face… just what was wrong with him?

Having seen enough of this cold weather, they bid Hagrid a hearty goodbye early the next morning and then began the long trek down the mountain pass.

They gave the sword to Ron, and Hermione continued to point out the quickest way that they could get out of this miserable weather.

"So we got the stone and the sword ready to go," Ron said smiling, his attitude having changed to a much brighter, light-hearted one to the gloomy one that they were used to seeing. And with every step they took away from the frozen mountain and closer to the warmth of the valleys below them, the happier that they all seemed to become. "Now all we got to do is find the key. So where do we go to next?"

"According to this," Hermione said, once more pouring over the map after she took off her coat, the weather now nice enough that it was no longer needed. "It's in some kind of shrine in a forest and oh—" she stopped and stared at the map with a mixture of horror and fear. "Oh no…"

"What?" Harry asked, leaning over to look at what the matter was.

"The Forest," she moaned. "The shrine with the key is in the Dark Forest."

Harry actually stopped the cart. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Are you reading that right?"

"Look," she said, holding it out to him. "It's not a mistake."

"What's the matter?" Ron asked, his grin fading slightly.

"The Dark Forest," Hermione told him softly, "It's also known as the Forbidden Forest. And with good reason."

"Ok," Ron said slowly, his smile now fading completely. "What's so _'Forbidden'_ about it?"

"There are all sorts of monsters in there," Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes. "It's filled with hundreds of man-eating creatures… most who go in there are often killed."

"K-killed?" he repeated, now looking sick.

Harry could only nod. "If we survive this, remind me to kill Dumbledore."

"He sure knows how to make things difficult," Hermione muttered despairingly. Ron, who had gone very pale, said quickly, "It's ok. I didn't ask you to go through all this for me. I mean, if you rather…?"

"We didn't come all this way with you to walk out now," Hermione told him with a determined tone.

"We're just dreading the idea of going in that place, we never said that we give up," Harry added. Ron could only sigh in relief, knowing that it was selfish, but glad that they were still here with him.

"Thankfully this map is already well marked," Hermione said holding it up for them all to see. "See? He already has several places marked here… parts of the forest that we must avoid at all costs. So if we're careful, we should be able to get through without trouble."

"What places do we avoid?" Harry asked quickly.

"Well, this part," she said pointing to a particular part of the map where it had been marked: _'Acromantula colony'_.

"A-acromantulas?" Ron stuttered, his eyes twitching a little and now starting to look very green.

"Yeah," she muttered worriedly. "They're giant spiders who eat humans. And then there's supposed to be trolls and werewolves… let's not go in there during the full moon… oh, this isn't going to be a pleasant trip…" she looked over every square inch of the torn piece of paper. Suddenly her eyes widened. "That's strange…" she muttered softly to herself.

"What?" Harry asked as the horse neighed loudly.

"This sector right here," she muttered thoughtfully, pointing to a particular sector of woods. "It's marked as _'Blast-Ended Skrewt…'_ what in the world is that?"

"I was just about to ask you," Ron muttered.

"Look," Harry said. "It's also marked as _'Dangerous'_. So I'm guessing that we avoid going there?"

"I'm with you," she agreed at once. "Well, there's also supposed to be a colony of centaurs. So long as we leave them alone, we shouldn't have too much trouble, and as for the unicorns, hippogriffs, and thestrals—I think we can handle them."

"So all-in-all, we might not die?" Harry asked. "If we stay on the right path?"

"Looks like it," she said, though still not looking completely convinced. "We'll have to be extremely careful! It's not going to be an easy journey… but if we move quickly and quietly, then we should be able to get through without trouble."

"Famous last words," Ron whispered under his breath as the cart picked up pace and they began to hurry along.

*Five Days later*

They continued on their long journey, enjoying the sights and the long talks that the three of them shared along the way. The spent the passing time making jokes and sharing tales of their youths—all of them trying not to think about the next step of their plan.

But all too soon, they ended up on the very outskirts of the forest.

"So this is it?" Ron asked with a loud gulp.

Harry could understand his hesitation. The forest was filled with dark and twisted trees that resembled old men. The leaves that hung from the gnarled branches were as black as coal and reminded him of claw-like hands reaching out to grab you… they spotted a winding trail just a few feet in, however it stretched onwards like the tongue of a large beast that led into a darkness that seemed almost—alive.

Hermione glanced up at the fading sun in the sky and announced, "Since it's almost night, how about we sleep out here until morning and then go in when it's daylight?"

Neither boy disagreed, not wanting to admit that this place was creeping them out as much as her. They unpacked blankets and huddled close together underneath their wagon, feeling a little safer under there then in the wide open, or near the trees.

They talked some more after dinner, but didn't stay up for long, occasionally shooting nervous glances at the trees. Finally, Harry offered to take the first watch; and the other two went to sleep after that. Harry laid there on his stomach, gazing out at the black trees, which were darker than the night itself.

He listened to the soft whispering of the wind blowing through the long grass and the swaying branches. Ron was snoring by his side and there was the soft hooting of an owl on a nearby branch. He sighed as he glanced up at the bright moon shining overhead.

It was almost full tonight…

His eyes trailed on it for a moment—a moon so bright that it bathed the whole world in an eerie light—only the few scattered clouds crossing in front of it able to block it out so that everything was, temporarily, thrown into darkness.

Just when his eyes started to grow heavy, and he was thinking of waking Ron—he saw it.

At first he just assumed that it had been just another random cloud… at least until he realized that it was flying against the wind in the opposite direction of the others. Raising his head off his arms he stared.

He stared at it, squinting to see what it was. It wasn't a cloud… it looked like a cluster of black smoke… but it wasn't like any smoke he'd ever seen. It was in a in a long winding shape… like a dark snake slithering across the dark sky. When it passed across the moon, it's shadow crossed the grounds.

He started to shake as he watched the smoke pass the moon, drifted across the sky, and disappeared over the forest.

Mouth dry, he stared, his breathing becoming painful as he tried to make sense of what that was. His heart beating faster, he laid back down… no longer tired.

And there he remained for the rest of the night… just staring at the forest and wondering what was in store for them when the sun rose.


	16. The Keepers of the Forest

**Chapter 15: The Keepers of the Forest**

For the rest of the night, Harry laid awake—trying to figure out what it was he saw. What was that black smoke that resembled a snake slithering across the night sky and disappearing over the forest? He laid there on the ground watching the moon sink lower and lower in the sky before disappearing over the horizon. As soon as its unworldly glow disappeared the light of the sun began to rise behind them. The other two woke up as soon as the sun was in the sky.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione called furiously when she looked around to see that Harry was wide awake and looking tired. "Why didn't you wake one of us up? You must be exhausted!"

"I'm fine," he lied. "I just couldn't sleep that's all."

He hesitated, but then he decided to come clean and tell them what he saw last night. Hermione stared at him, but Ron merely looked confused. "It was just smoke wasn't it? It could've come from anywhere right? Maybe there was some kind of a fire far off or…?"

"It wasn't any ordinary smoke," Harry sighed as they gathered around the campfire and began to cook up the little food that they had left. "I'm telling you that it was like a snake or something! It went against the wind and disappeared over the forest."

"What can smoke do to us though?" Ron asked nervously. "I mean, it's bad enough that we have to go walking around a creepy forest, but to think that there's something really dangerous in there…?"

"That forest is already a dangerous place," Hermione interrupted him. "But Harry, could it be that you just started to doze off and imagined it? Or even dreamt it?"

Harry sighed in frustration. The thing about Hermione was that she didn't like to believe anything without any proof.

"I'm telling you that I saw something last night," he said firmly. "I don't know what it was but I know that it was bad news."

They all hesitated and glanced at the dark trees.

"So… what do we do?" Hermione asked. "Do we forget about it…?"

"We can't do that," Harry sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "What would've been the point in coming all the way out here? I'm just saying that we have to be extra careful. We've got to get in and out before dark… I feel safer that way."

The other two didn't disagree; they sat in silence for the rest of their meal before they put out the fire and stood on the edge of the trees. Harry shook his head as he looked at the dark path as Hermione got out a small lantern and some flint.

Why did it feel like he was willingly walking into the lion's den? Or maybe a nest of snakes would be more appropriate in this case? He shook his head, trying hard to put what he saw out of his mind. He didn't want to think about that anymore. They go into the shrine, get the key, and then leave. The less time that he spent here the happier he'd be.

Hermione held up the lantern and asked, "You boys ready?"

"No," Ron muttered nervously as he glanced at the tree branches overhead. "But I'll go."

And they all stepped into the darkness, and couldn't help but feel as if they were leaving the world they knew behind.

The forest was black and silent. The hard, dirt road that they were all travelling on winded around the tree trunks and passed beneath the low-hanging branches. The branches that were like hands, continued to snag their hair and clothes so travelling just a few yards could take several minutes just to pull themselves free.

They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. The only light that they had was the lantern that Hermione held in front of her, making them all feel a little bit safer.

"How far do we have to go?" Harry asked as she handed him the light so that she could clamber over a fallen log.

"Let me check," she answered, pulling the map back out and he held the light close for her to read.

"According to this, we're on the right path," she said carefully, tracing the path with her finger. "We need to continue like this until we reach a fork in the road."

"And then where do we go?" Ron asked anxiously, glancing around them. "Something's wrong with this place, it doesn't feel normal."

Harry could understand what he was talking about. This dark forest felt like something that had come from a nightmare.

"Well," Hermione said folding up the map and sticking it back down her clothes. "We have to take the left path."

"But isn't that the longer way?" Harry asked, having traced the path with his finger before she put the map away.

"Yes, but it's much safer," she said. "The right path will take us straight into the heart of those Acromantulas I mentioned before."

Even in this low light, Ron's face grew pale. "Ok," he croaked in a higher voice than normal. "The left path it is then."

"I take it that you're not a fan of spiders?" she asked him with a smile.

"It's not funny," he hissed back. "I've had a bad experience with spiders alright? Just drop it."

"Ok, ok," Hermione said with a slight giggle. "Let's just keep moving fast. But stay quiet, we don't know what's here and…"

Harry suddenly flung out his arm to silence her.

"What?" she asked, startled. But he just put a finger to his lips and listened. The three of them stopped dead when they heard something slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. They all froze in silent terror as the sound became louder and louder… Harry held his breath as the vivid image of the black smoke last night.

But then just as the noise sounded like it was only a few feet away, Hermione covered the lantern with her cloak and suddenly they were all cloaked in darkness. Just then the sound stopped. They froze—waiting, still as statues—Harry suspected that no one was even breathing. And then slowly the sound disappeared—slowly fading away into the darkness.

"What was that?" Hermione asked softly, uncovering the light, her breathing was in hard and short pants.

"I don't know," Harry answered uneasily, sweat dripping down his face. "But there's something in this forest that isn't right…"

"I don't like this place period," Ron said quickly, looking around anxiously. "This place is creeping me out. Let's just find the stupid key and get the hell out of here."

They walked on, quickening their pace, ears straining for the faintest sound. But then, suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Harry called, throwing out his arm to stop the other two. He felt Hermione wince from next to him and knew it was because he spoke out, revealing where they were. They froze, all of them tensing, readying themselves for whatever came out. They heard the sound of hooves in the distance and out came…

Harry stared at what he saw. At first he thought that it was a man… and it was—at least to the waist. The upper part of his body was that of a human… but below him was…

"A centaur?" Hermione croaked out in a hushed whisper. "I've never seen one!"

The centaur looked mildly surprised to see them all there, but he merely glanced at them all as if they were an interesting piece of art. "And what brings three human children here?" he asked deep voice. But Harry could see his eyes narrow in suspicion.

Harry blinked before he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Hello," he answered firmly. "Sorry, we thought that you were something else. Who are you? Do you live here?"

"My name is Ronan," he said, his hooves making clopping noises on the dirt road. Suddenly, a movement in the trees behind Ronan but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and wilder-looking than Ronan—and he was carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows on his back.

"Ah, Bane," Ronan said looking at his friend. "Look at what I found here."

"Humans?" Bane asked looking over them. "You don't see too many of them in here." His expression darkened. "You think that they're the ones?"

"Most likely," Ronan said darkly. "It's not that often that you get something so terrible happening and then running into humans. Destruction isn't exactly something new for humans after all…"

"What happened?" Hermione croaked out. "We just got here and…"

"I can tell that you're lying," Bane said, coming forward and poking her in the shoulder with an arrow.

"Oi!" Ron yelled and stood in front of Hermione. "Ok, we got here last night, but we didn't get into the forest until just a little while ago!"

Harry also stepped forward. "What happened here?"

"I think that you should tell us that," Bane said coldly, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Hey, wait!" Hermione called when suddenly they heard more hooves behind them, galloping, and something spoke.

"Enough!"

They all spun around to see another centaur was standing over them; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body. But the strangest thing about him were his astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires.

"Are you all right?" said the centaur to the three of them. Unable to say anything Hermione could only gulp and nod nervously with a squeak.

The centaur looked up at his two comrades and walked forward, the three of them quickly moving out of his way. "These three did nothing wrong," he said to Ronan and Bane. "It was something else that destroyed the shrine."

"And what makes you say that?" Bane barked, his hoof stamping the ground in agitation. Suddenly Ronan put his hand on his friend's arm and asked, "You were watching the stars last night were you not, Firenze?" he asked.

The centaur named Firenze nodded. "Yes, the serpent did appear and he was the one who took it."

Ron and Hermione both glanced at Harry, who returned the tense look.

"And what makes you think that these children aren't working for him?" Bane demanded. "After everything that he did last night…?"

Firenze shook his head. "I will take responsibility for these three. Please. I will take them out of the forest myself. But they are innocent here. They honestly don't know anything of our business nor of what became of the forest."

Ronan looked convinced, but Bane looked furious. "What makes you think that…?" he began, but Ronan held out his arm again.

He looked at Firenze carefully. "Very well, Firenze, but you know what is to come do you not?"

Firenze nodded and Ronan put a hand on Bane's shoulder. "Come," he said deeply. "We must return anyway."

Bane stood where he was for a second longer, shooting the three of them a nasty look like he expected them to pull out swords and knifes to attack them.

"Hmph," was all he said as he turned and galloped away.

"What was with that guy?" Ron demanded, thought he had the sense to keep this to himself until he was sure that Bane was out of earshot. Firenze, who hadn't said a word, watched until they were alone had turned to the three of them. "You three must leave this forest," he said firmly.

"Hey," Ron said hurriedly. "Look, I'm sorry! But you've got to believe us, we don't know what happened here last night! We only came here so that we could get something for Dumbledore. You know him right? Did he tell you to guard something for him until someone came to…?"

"Wait," Hermione said, holding up the lantern to see their new friend's face. "Please… what is happening here?"

Firenze glanced at them sadly and muttered, "I know what it is you seek. I know why you are here and I'm aware of what you must do. But I'm afraid to tell you that what you are looking for is no longer here."

"What are you…?" Ron began but Firenze interrupted, "The key that you are looking for is no longer in this forest."

Silence seemed to press in around them.

"What do you mean that the key isn't here anymore?" Harry asked in amazement. "And how did you know that we were looking for it?"

"The stars have always told we centaurs what is to come," Firenze said, his long tail swishing back and forth as he tilted his head back to look up at the tree branches, as if he could see pass it all and see the forest. "Last night, while we were star-gazing, I foresaw three people coming here to finally take the key that once laid in the shrine. The shrine was an old tree in the center of this forest… but then a dark shadow appeared across the evening sky."

Harry felt as if his breath was caught in his throat as the image of the snake flashed in his mind's eye.

He stepped forward and asked, "A dark shadow? Just what was it?"

Firenze merely shook his head. "I cannot say. But you must leave here now. This forest is not safe at the moment."

"But what happened?" Ron cried out desperately. "Look, we need that key! Where is it?"

"It was taken last night by the shadow," Firenze explained. "When we saw the shadow land in the forest, we immediately went to the shrine… but by the time that we got there, the key was stolen and the tree in flames."

It was as if the ground was falling away from them. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. They came all this way only to be told that they no longer had any chances.

"Who…?" Harry asked and then Firenze said one word that sent the cold sense of dread throughout his bodoy.

"Voldemort…" he whispered.

*Later*

"So now what?" Hermione cried out. They were back where they started and outside the forest watching the sun sinking in all the shades of reds, orange, and yellow. Once Firenze had led them on the shortest path out of the woods, they were here in this field, trying to figure out what to do. Ron had spent the last few hours pacing the ground, kicking at rocks and twigs, trying to vent his anger as Hermione sat on a large rock, rubbing her temples—trying to figure out what to do—while Harry was just staring up at the sky, a lost look on his face.

"Voldemort's got the key…" Hermione said softly. "He somehow figured out what was happening and took action."

"I don't suppose that we could go back to Dumbledore and have him make another key could we?" Ron asked worriedly. "Do we really need it anyway?"

"How should I know?" Harry asked, trying hard to think of a way out of this. "I don't know anything about magic. But if it was that simple then Dumbledore would've given us a new key to begin with right? And if you're sister's room is magically locked, how else are we supposed to reach her?"

"We can use an ax on the door?" he suggested before he cursed out, "Damn it!"

He then kicked the wagon out of frustration, thus resulting in pain. "When I get my hands on Dumbledore…" Ron threatened, hopping up and down on his foot.

"That doesn't matter," Hermione said, helping him to sit down. "Even if you do kill him, that's not going to get the key back. Look… why don't we…" she hesitated as if worried how they would react if she went on, but then, "Go back home? I'm sure that Dumbledore must still be there right? We can tell him that we got the stone and sword back, but the key was stolen. He must know something… what else can we do?"

They all argued… but in the end, they knew that she was right. It was the last thing they wanted to do, but they had to go back to Dumbledore and tell him what happened. Yet, why did it feel that every time they took a step forward, they ended up taking three steps back?

They just packed up and left the field, not at all sorry to see the forest fading from behind them. They only traveled for a short time however because they soon came upon a river. Hermione knelt by the water, gathering water as Ron spoke.

"You think that he would've found a safer place to hide the key," Ron complained for the millionth time that day. "I mean… the key to my sister's room? You think he would've found a better place for…"

"We know, Ron," Hermione sighed as she stood up, her gourd full of water and taking a long sip. "But there's nothing we can do about it now is there? We don't know where the key is now—for all we know Voldemort could've destroyed it by now."

"I doubt it," Harry said as he ran his hand through the horse's mane. "The key was enchanted wasn't it? It's not going to break that easily."

"Well, the only choice we have now is to go to Dumbledore and ask him what to do," Hermione declared.

"I hate this," Ron grumbled. "I hate this so much."

"What else do you suggest we do?" she demanded. "It's not like we can go waltzing up to Voldemort's caste, wherever that may be, and ask for it now can we?"

Harry sighed. "We know, Hermione," he told them. "I mean, even if we did, we don't know where his castle or even where to start looking? So it looks like we're out of other options but to go to Dumbledore. Maybe he'll be able to come up with a plan." He looked up at her, "Funny, normally you're the one with the plan."

She rolled her eyes. "There's nothing else for it. Besides, it would be good to see Mum and Dad again. Hey, we might even run into Sirius there. He did say that he was going to see them…?"

Ron sighed from his seat and didn't say anything, but nodded.

Harry knew how he felt. If it was his family who were in trouble, he'd want to do something about it. He clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. We'll get you home as soon as we can. We just need to work out a few last details before we go and take the fortress."

Ron smiled. "Well, could be worse I guess."

That was when it did.

It all happened at once.

Hermione screamed as the horse went crazy.

Harry spun around, but it was too late—the last thing he saw was a large club swinging down at him… and nothing else.

**(What do you think? Hope you enjoyed this chapter waiting this long, but school is becoming harder and harder to deal with. But hopefully, the next chapter will be easier to come up with.)**


	17. Once Upon A December

**Chapter 16: Once Upon A December **

_Not again._

_The only thing that Harry could clearly remember was the terrible pain in his head. Something had struck him so hard that he felt himself drifting off into the realm of dreams once again. It was just like when he was knocked out by the sword._

_He opened his eyes and this time he was leaning over the edge of a balcony that overlooked a beautiful ballroom. He turned around and realized that there were two staircases on either side of him and he took one of them down to the elaborate tiled floor. It was an enormous room that was walled with long billowing curtains that hid the long windows while chandeliers that hung off an impossibly high ceiling. There were several long, wooden tables that that were standing up against the walls that held hundreds of candles that cast everything into a twilight around him. He glanced up and gasped when he saw the ceiling… instead of a solid stone he, instead, saw stars. A bright full moon and twinkling stars shown down at him… it was as if there was no ceiling there and it was just the heavens above him._

"_Harry?" called the voice as gentle as a dove. He looked up and saw her standing there, looking thrilled to see him and she went running down the stairs to reach him. For some reason, his heart seemed to skip several beats and he couldn't stop the wide smile as she reached him._

"_You came back…" she whispered, as if afraid that she was wrong._

"_I always do," he said, not knowing why it was becoming so hard to talk whenever she was around. "What's your name?" he asked and she laughed._

"_Why ask a question you already know the answer?" she asked. _

_He shrugged. "Habit?" he suggested and she laughed. He looked around the ballroom once more, trying to look at anything but at her. "Where are we?" he asked her, not really paying any attention to the answer. "We've never been to a place like this."_

_She was also looking around her. "I don't know. I'm as surprised as you are… but this place feels so familiar, but I don't know why… oh!"_

_She suddenly spotted something and went over to a large box sitting on one of the long tables. She opened it and as soon as she did, he could hear the sounds of violins beginning to play a slow waltz, and the tinkling of bells._

"_A music box," she cooed sweetly. Smiling, she then walked to the center of the ballroom, and closed her eyes. She put her arms in a frame, as if there was really a man there in front of her. And she started dancing… and was softly singing the words to the tune…_

_Dancing bears  
Painted wings  
Things I almost remember,  
And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December_

_She was very light on her feet, and she twirled. She then walked over to him and pulled him to the center and said, "Do you care to dance with me?"_

_Harry blinked and walked back._

_"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly._

_Harry blushed and muttered something like, "I can't dance."_

_The girl gave him a gentle laugh as she came closer to him. "It's easy," she said. "Here," she said and she pulled him close, put one of his hands on her waist, and took hold of the other one. She saw him blush redder than ever. "Want to try?"_

"_Oh, I don't know…" he said uncertainly. Which was true—his head was telling him one thing, but his heart another._

_She took his hand, looking into his eyes and asked, "Dance with me… please?"_

_Those were the words that she had uttered ever so softly. Those simple words… only meant for him. He looked deeply into her eyes as though searching. They stopped and stood in front of one another, both gazing at the other with a mixture of feelings that a person could never hope to understand. There were hardly even aware of the music surrounding them… engulfing them._

_If anyone had bothered to stop and look at the two, they would quickly turn away, for the gazing was a special kind. This gazing was more intimate than any physical contact dare to dream, for it told more than a hundred thousand paged book could describe and held more true and powerfully intense burning feelings than the sun could produce heat._

_The girl felt warm inside at the thought of being so near him like this that she felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach gently yet rapidly. Breathing seemed to become painful and she fought a blush from staining her cheeks like sunburn._

_Her eyes lightened up at the prospect of being with him. Her heart fluttered and her breathing danced as she focused on him. Her heart started beating like a drum now, in tune with the music box like music that she barely registered. _

_The space between their bodies now nearly nonexistent; she had to hold her breath when she was near him because it made her dizzy just letting him hold her… his scent was so intoxicating. Suddenly, they started to dance. She spun around on her heels, making the bottom of her dress flare out and faced Harry. _

_The music started again. _

_Dancing bears  
Painted wings  
Things I almost remember,  
And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December_

_They gently turned in a circle and she could feel his heartbeat against her own. She felt like she was flying in Harry arms, who after a few minutes seemed to gain more confidence in his dancing and began to really get into it. She felt him pulling her closer as the music began to go faster. After awhile, she closed her eyes and continued their spinning and let Harry take over the led._

_Someone holds me safe and warm,  
horses prance through a silver storm,  
Figures dancing gracefully,  
across my memory…_

_Harry spun her away from him and back again so that her back was against his chest and her hand lie within his own. She then spun away this time and looked him deeply in the eyes. He then spun her easily, before holding her close in his arms. That was when he heard her beginning to sing along with the lyrics again, despite being out of breath._

_Someone holds me safe and warm,  
horses prance through a silver storm,  
Figures dancing gracefully,  
across my memory…_

_Each time their bodies touched fire raced through her veins. Their moves matched each other with perfection. It was just the two of them in their own little world, a world where they were safe… where no one and nothing could come between them._

_Far away, long ago  
Things I yearn to remember  
And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December…_

_He set her down gently and spun her with one hand until they were back where they started, with his hand in hers and they once again started twirling around in graceful circles. As the song neared the end, he saw that her eyes were closed and she breathed in and out deeply. He spun her around so her back was to him again, his arms wrapped around her arms which, in turn, were wrapped tightly around her middle. His arms pulled her closer, encircling her tighter. His grip was strong… protective…_

_And at the last few words, she turned back to him…_

_On the wind, cross the sea,_

_Hear this song and remember_

_Soon you'll be, home with me,_

_Once upon a December…_

_Time just plainly had seemed to stop as soon as she stopped singing… with her in his arms, and him in hers. Harry felt as if he was coming out of a trance as soon as the music stopped. Harry only just realized that his lips were only an inch away from touching her own, and he quickly drew away, just as her beautiful brown eyes looked at him… not fully understanding what just happened._

"_I thought you said that you couldn't dance?" she asked him softly._

_He shrugged, "I guess I never tried."_

_When Harry looked at her, he saw that she looked sadder than he had ever seen her before. Tears were forming in her eyes and she began to cry._

_Feeling sick with himself for making her cry, he pulled her tight against his chest and held her there. At that moment, he was willing to do anything to make her happy again. It broke his heart to see her like this. He whispered words of comfort until he could feel her calm down and began to sniffle._

_"Are you ok?" he asked her timidly as if he was afraid that she was going to cry again. The girl looked up into his eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry," was all she could say. "I really don't know what came over me. I just couldn't help but…"_

_"It's alright now. You don't have to keep apologizing," he said awkwardly. "But why did you start crying?"_

_She shrugged. "It's just… I don't know… for a moment… I thought I could feel like I was living memories… like I knew who I was for a second."_

_They both stood there in the middle of the floor together. "I wish I could help you…" he said._

_She looked at him, her eyes red, "But the thing is… for as long as I can remember… I only feel like I'm living when I'm with you."_

_He stared at her. "What are you saying?"_

_She seemed to realize what she said and looked down. "Sorry," she muttered pulling back and away from him. "I don't know why…"_

_They both stayed like that for a long time, neither saying a word, just enjoying with each other's company. Finally, she muttered, "You're a really good dancer."_

_"Oh…" sputtered Harry completely taken aback. "Well… I…" why was she so good at making him speechless?_

_She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath as she raised her head to him. "Thank you. For everything," she whispered before she stood up on her tippy-toes and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away, she muttered another quick 'I'm sorry' before she turned and ran from the room._

_Harry only stood there, staring after her, his hand up to his cheek—feeling as if something warm was spreading throughout his body._

Meanwhile, neither of them were aware of the rose in that quiet tower room—which had reached full bloom in the sleeping princess's hands—was now slowly starting to wither away…

**(What do you think? I know this song wasn't part of this story, but it just seemed to match everything beautifully.)**


	18. A Dark and Slimy Cell

**Chapter 17: A Dark and Slimy Cell**

Pain…

That was all Harry could feel. His head was pounding and he could feel something sticky and hot dripping down the side of his head. His cheek was lying against something cold, hard, and slimy as his shoulders felt like they had been forced out of their sockets and then beaten back into place. He tired to move, but realized that he was tied with his arms behind his back.

He groaned out, trying to remember what happened, and he heard a voice whisper, "Harry?"

Feeling like he rather have done anything but force his eyes to open, he squinted at first… the first thing that he noticed was that his glasses were gone and everything was blurry. But he could make out Hermione's petrified face across from him behind bars.

"H-Hermione?" he croaked out, his voice sounding hoarse.

"Oh, Harry," she moaned in relief. "I'm so glad… for a while there I thought…"

Harry groaned again as he rolled over onto his side so that he could see better. "What happened?" he asked looking around him to see that the room they were in was made of dark, slimly stone—the same as the filthy floor. There were no windows, and only a large wooden door that led to the outside world. There were bars around him, and Hermione was in a cell just across from him. There was no sign of Ron.

He looked around and then up at her to ask, "What happened?"

"It all happened so fast," she whispered. "I just finished getting the water when suddenly these men with masks jumped out and attacked us. One of them had a club and took you out. Me and Ron didn't last for much longer than that. They hit and knocked him out to, but I was still awake when they dragged us here to this awful castle."

"Who's castle?" he asked, forcing his aching body up against the wall until he was in a sitting position. "What's this about?"

"They keep calling him the Dark Lord," she whispered, fear in her voice. "There's only one person it could be…"

"Voldemort," Harry whispered, having already guessed that he was the one behind it all. "But what about Ron?"

"I don't know," she moaned. "They had him in here a while ago, but just before you woke up, they came in and took him. I don't have a clue to what happened." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"Don't be," he croaked out. "None of us were paying attention. How could we expect this to happen?"

"They took everything," she whimpered. "Everything they had. When they saw the sword that Ron had they…"

Harry cursed under his breath. So now Voldemort had both the key and the sword. That was when he felt the pouch under his shirt and he let out a small sigh of relief. The stone were still safe then. But first things first, he had to get them out of here. They would worry about what to do when they were out of here.

He didn't have long to wait however, about ten minutes later he heard voices outside the large wooden door and suddenly it was flung open, blinding them both with light for a moment before two shadows appeared, dragging a body with them. They unlocked the door to an empty cell and threw it in there. With a surge of fury, Harry saw that it was Ron—who was whimpering slightly.

"Ron!" he gasped as the two men in skull masks laughed.

"Don't bother," said one of the men stupidly. "You all will get what's coming to you in three days."

"What are you all talking about?" Harry demanded as fiercely as he could despite the fact that he was stuck here and hurt without being able to so much as move.

"Master says that you three will be dead in a few days," the other said.

"If you're going to kill me, why not get it over with now?" he demanded.

"Not just you," he first one said looking at the three of them. "All three of you, but Master's pet had a feast of the last bloke that was down here and won't eat again for another few days. We'll wait then."

They left after that. Harry made sure that they were gone before the turned to Ron's cell and called out, "Ron? Ron are you alright?"

Silence for a few moments before the red-head looked up to him. "Harry?" he croaked.

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione called to him tearfully. Unlike them, her hands were still free. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah," he muttered, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

"What did they do to you?" Harry whispered, staring at the bleeding cuts all over his friend's face.

"They wanted answers," he croaked. "They wanted to know what I did with the stone and sword." He looked to Harry who told him, "I know. They took the sword didn't they?"

Ron gave him a miserable look. "Yeah. I know. I was stupid… I was stuck with the sword and I couldn't even protect it properly."

"Ron, you couldn't have hidden something that big from them," Hermione said at once. "It's not your fault. At least you're still alive."

"The stone?" Ron gasped, looking to Harry, who nodded. "I still have it."

"One less thing to worry about then," Ron sighed in relief. "He was there… he kept questioning me until I thought that I'd go mad."

"Voldemort?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded. "He has the key and the sword now. He was taunting me with it. He knows that we'd worked so hard to get those things…"

"And?" Hermione pressed on.

"He wanted to know if we…" but before he could finish, the door opened again, and the two men that dragged Ron in were back.

"Master wants you," one of the men said to Harry, unlocking the door and dragging him out the door. Through the halls they dragged him, Harry struggling to get to his feet to walk, but it was useless. He couldn't even see straight anymore. The castle was large, made of a strong gray color—though to be honest it was hardly better than that dudgeon that they were just in. The castle was like a museum of the dark – from Dark Arts to simply dark auras. The many rooms that they passed, even with candles lit, felt as though they existed merely to suck the happiness from its inhabitants, like the echo of a demon caught within the walls. Any light shone in was devoured by the shadows, never to be seen again.

He pulled at the ropes that bound his arms before he was thrown face-forward onto the hard floor. Tasting more blood, he glared up before him to see Voldemort sitting there on a black throne.

"Oh, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Harry demanded fiercely, feeling humiliated at being so helpless and unable to protect himself.

He had heard many rumors on what Voldemort was like… but he never expected his imagination to be so poor. He was uglier than he ever thought possible.

The man was bald and his veins stood out, almost like scales, on the ghostly pale, snake-like face. His mouth was curled into a twisted smile that looked like it belonged to the devil himself when he was making a deal, his fingers were long and thing… like a pair of giant spiders resting of the arms of the black throne.

But the worst part were the eyes… they were a blood-red color with black strips like a cat. They were such cold, terrifying eyes… devoid of any emotion other than sick amusement.

Voldemort smiled cruelly down at him. "You've got spirit. We'll see how long that lasts."

"What do you want with me?" Harry demanded, trying not to show the fear that he felt.

"I must say that after all this time, I didn't expect a chance for the royal family to be saved," Voldemort said. "You've been travelling around prince for some time now haven't you? I knew that old fool Dumbledore would do something to prevent the princess from dying…"

"You were the one who cursed her!" he called. "What did she ever do to you?"

"That is none of your business," he answered silkily. "I merely caused some trouble."

"You caused the whole kingdom to sleep for a hundred years!" he yelled at him.

"That was the old man's doing, not I," he answered coolly. "Because he believed that true love would be enough to break my curse. He should've just let the girl die. At least then the rest of the kingdom would've been awake all this time. That way, your fellow commoners wouldn't have had to suffer all these years."

"He only did what he thought was best," Harry retorted, refusing to listen to anything that this snake had to say. "If you never cursed the princess, then none of this would've happened."

"That is a matter of opinion," Voldemort answered him, the smile growing a little wider. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out something.

It was a small silver key. At first glance it didn't seem all that special… that is until he saw that the key had a set of wings attached to it—one of which had a crooked wing.

"Is that…?" Harry asked, staring at it.

"It is indeed," Voldemort chuckled. "I went to the shrine in the middle of the forest and found it among hundreds of others flying around. It would've taken a normal person days to have found the right one. Luckily, I've always been—ah—above others."

"Well, what do you want from me?" Harry demanded. "If you wanted us dead, you could've done so before."

"True," Voldemort answered with another smile. "I could've. But then I never would've gotten the answers that I'm looking for."

"What answers?" Harry asked. "Not that I'll tell you even if I knew the answers to them."

Voldemort smirked again. "You've got a mouth on you. That appears to be the only weapon you seem to have. But that's not why I brought you here."

"Then why?" Harry asked.

He watched as Voldemort leaned comfortably back in his chair, that was when he realized that there was something else in the room. Harry froze and watched in terror as a snake, the largest snake he could ever remember seeing slithered up from behind the throne and settled itself on its master's shoulders.

"My dear Nagini," Voldemort cooed to the serpent. "I know that you are still full from your feast the other day. Don't worry though," he smiled evilly down at Harry. "I've already got you three people… one for each meal of the day."

Harry tried not to show fear, but it was hard as he watched the enormous, diamond-headed serpent looking over at him.

"I seem to have gotten your attention now," Voldemort spoke in that same cold, silky-smooth voice. "Now maybe you will be more willing to answer my questions."

"What questions?" Harry asked.

Voldemort stroked the snake's head for a second before he asked, "Who is it?"

"Who is what?" Harry asked, now starting to feel angry again.

"I've done more than my fair share of research for this spell that the foolish old man performed," Voldemort informed him. "I know that only a kiss from true _love_…" he said that last word in a hiss, as though it was something too disgusting… or maybe a word that he didn't fully understand…? "Could awaken her. Tell me…"

He leaned forward and asked, "Who is he? Have you found the one that the princess loves? Who is this lucky dreamer?"

Harry honestly had no idea to what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully. "Dumbledore never gave me a name or anything. I don't know anything about this."

Voldemort gazed at him. "What you say isn't a complete lie. I see… you honestly don't know who it is. Well, that is rather unfortunate. For you see, I wanted to know who the princess was in love with. That way, once I had the pleasure of removing him from this world, the curse could never break."

Harry stared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded. "What did any of those people do to you to make you want them to suffer like this? First your curse the princess—a baby that never did any harm to you, and now you want to take away any chance that they might've had to saving her! Why? What did they do to you?"

Voldemort tilted his head to the side as he observed him. He then clapped his hands together once, and the doors behind Harry opened up and the two servants who had brought him in here came back.

"Then take him back to his cell," Voldemort commanded in a bored way. "I see that there's no more point in questioning them like this. No matter… we've got three more days before Nagini must feed again. Perhaps they will be more eager to speak then."

Harry was, once again, grabbed by his arms, and forced up. He managed to get one last glare at Voldemort as he was dragged from the room. But as he did, he couldn't help but notice the silver and ruby encrusted object that was leaning right next to the throne…

Even after he was thrown back into his cell with Hermione and Ron, he knew that there must still be a way to get out of this mess.

**(This are looking bad. Now Voldemort finally comes into the picture! How do you all think that they'll make it out of this situation alive? I'll get the next chapter up as soon as it's finished. I hope that you're enjoying this story as much as I am. And to those of you who have been asking, I'll be getting the Harry Potter version of Peter Pan up as soon as I finish this story. Hope you all have a happy Easter!)**


	19. Just One Kiss

**Chapter 18: Just One Kiss**

Hours had passed as they sat in their lonely cells. They all talked for that entire time, trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess.

"He has the key and the sword," Harry said, for what felt like the hundredth time. "Even if we're able to escape, without those two, this trip would've been for nothing."

"I think our lives are more important at the moment," Hermione sighed tiredly. "But that's hardly the point at the moment."

"You still have your hands free though," Ron reminded her as he looked to the locks on her cell door. "Think you can…?"

"Harry's normally the one who can pick locks," she informed him. "And his hands are tied at the moment."

"Doesn't matter," Harry said dully, "Don't have anything to pick the locks anyway."

"Well, we have to do something," she said, her voice higher than normal. "Because I'm not going to become a snake's dinner!"

"We won't let it happen!" Harry said, with his wrists constantly going against the chains was now starting to hurt. They each kept coming up with one idea after another… though each one was becoming as unlikely as the next.

Harry's eyes began to droop… he was sure that it was very late. He wanted nothing more than to sleep and escape into that perfect world once again. But he knew that they needed him to stay awake for as long as possible until they could think of something.

"Harry?" Hermione said softly. "You look terrible…"

"So do you," he reminded her, his voice slurred a little from exhaustion.

"I mean you look like you need some sleep," she said firmly. "Look, we'll talk for awhile while you get some sleep ok?"

"But…" he began but she shook her head. "You hardly got any sleep for the last few days. It's ok… we need you to be ready at a moment's notice. You get some sleep."

"You sure?" he asked, though he knew that he couldn't hold his head up for much longer.

"Yeah, mate," Ron agreed. "We'll wake you if we think of anything good."

He gave them both a grateful smile as he laid his head against the dirty wall and felt himself slowly starting to drop off. "Wake me… when… when…" he tried to say, but he was losing the fight as sleep took over.

"When we think of something," Hermione finished for him, but he barely heard her voice for he was already sleeping.

_*Dream*_

_He was free from pain and chains—free from the prison bars and the darkness… _

_He had escaped into the dream world once again._

_But for some reason, he still felt so cold, as if he was still in that freezing cell._

_He had his back up against a large tree and opened his eyes. He knew where he was this time. It was here… it was the same forest where he first met her…_

_He was even sitting underneath the same tree that they had once been under as she worked on her woven blanket and showed him the Daffodil. But once his blurred vision cleared, he knew that something was wrong. The forest looked sick. The trees were starting to wilt, their leaves a sickly black color, there were no more birds chirping… there was nothing but silence._

_What is this?_

_He stood up, staring around him. Where was she? She had to be already here somewhere wasn't she? He had to find her. He took a few cautious steps forward, not having the slightest clue to where to even start looking for her._

_He stared around him in circles, not knowing where to go or what to do… that was when he saw it. Over the dying trees, there was the tip of what appeared to be some kind of tower. He couldn't ever remember seeing that there before. But something inside him just told him to start heading to that tower… _

_So he ran. He ducked underneath the sick trees, jumping over the ones that had begun to rot and had fallen over. He ignored everything around him as he continued to run… he couldn't explain, even to himself, why it was so important for him to get there, only that something precious to him was being held there._

_He had no idea how much time had passed. It could've been hours or just a few minutes… all he knew was that he eventually came bursting out into a clearing and there she was._

"_Oh, thank goodness," he sighed, recognizing that long red hair anywhere. "For a second, I thought that something had happened to you. Are you ok? What's going on?"_

_It was only then did he notice where they were. They were standing on the doorstep of a castle—but it was as silent as a grave. There was a large wall that was keeping out anyone who could even think of entering; covered in thick, branch-like vines that were covered with thorns as long as knives. _

_The many turrets and towers of this castle were covered with so many of these vines that you could hardly see any of the gray stone that was underneath. There was nothing but silence… _

_As quiet as a grave and it sent shivers up his spine._

_He stepped forward, his footsteps echoing on the hard road as he approached the girl. Her back was to him and she didn't even look back when he had called to her… she just continued to stare off at the distant castle._

"_Hey," he called. _

_She turned her head to look at him for a brief second before she turned away from him again._

"_You came back," she said. But this time it wasn't a question… it was a statement._

"_I always do," he answered. "Could you tell me… what your name is?" he asked her softly, though he had a feeling that maybe now wasn't a good time to play that game._

"_Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" she asked, still not looking at him. Her tone was not of the playfulness that it usually was._

"_What's wrong?" he asked her quietly._

"_Nothing," she answered, and he didn't believe her. Feeling anxious, he stepped forward and touched her shoulder. She didn't react at all, still refusing to look at him._

"_What is it?" he repeated worriedly. _

"_I told you, nothing!" she said forcefully, pulling her hand from his gasp and began walking away, towards the castle. Harry was completely taken aback. This wasn't like her at all… he quickly followed. _

"_I know that something's wrong! Hey!" he called to her. "You can't just walk away from me like this!"_

"_Watch me!" she shouted back._

"_Listen," he yelled to her, now starting to get angry himself. "Why are you so angry with me?"_

"_I'm not angry at you!" she shouted back. "I just don't want to see you now!"_

_He couldn't believe this, what had gotten into her?_

"_Look," he yelled to her, stopping. "If you really want me to leave you alone, then I'll go. But would you at least tell me what I did to make you angry? If it was something I did, then just say it!"_

_The girl stood there for a moment, "I—," she croaked, "I'm afraid."_

_Harry stared at her back, trying to make sense of what she said. "Of what? There's never anyone else here but me and…"_

"_But that's the problem!" she shouted, finally spinning around to look at him. "It's __you__ I'm afraid of!"_

_Harry stared at her beautiful brown eyes. "What?" he repeated dumbfounded. "What did I do? I never did anything to you…"_

_But then she ran over to him, right into his arms and buried her face in his clothes. Startled, he held onto her as she cried into his shirt. "But you did…" she gasped. "You made me… you… you made me…"_

"_Made you what?" he demanded, now completely lost here. He had known her for a long time… and he had only ever seen her cry once when they first met. She was normally so strong-willed and stubborn… yet here she was, reduced to a quivering, crying wreak. "If this is about me throwing you in the ocean then I'm sor…"_

"_No," the girl shook her head, raising her face so that she was looking up at him. "It's nothing like that."_

"_Then what?" he asked, now starting to feel afraid himself. Just what had gotten into her and why was she crying like she was in so much pain?_

_Tears in her eyes, she reached up on her toes and pressed her lips to his forehead. He felt the blood rushing to his head and he even felt dizzy. The place where her lips had left him felt warm and burned—but in a good way._

_She drew away to look at him fully in the face. What she said next made his heart beat faster and he felt his whole face burn. "You made me fall in love with you…"_

_He stared at her, as she stared back at him. Her brown eyes were sad, but fierce at the same time. Her face was now as red as her hair and she pulled away from him. "For as long as I've been here," she whispered. "I couldn't remember anything. Who I am, where I'm from, how I got here… all I knew was that I was so lonely."_

"_But…" Harry croaked out but she went on._

"_All I knew was that I was waiting for someone…" she told him. "And then, you appeared out of nowhere… you told me so much about the outside world… given me so much… how could I not love you? You're such an idiot… but even after you've done so much for me… I can't give you anything… not even my name…"_

"_I…" Harry whispered, truly not having an idea of what to say._

_She continued to look at him. "After you left last time… something happened… something dark is covering everything. You can leave, but I'm trapped here."_

"_What do you mean?" he asked, sounding stupider by the second._

"_You can leave here… but I can't," she said softly. "And should you leave now… before something terrible happens to you. If such a thing were to ever happen with you I—I don't know what I'd ever do!"_

"_What's happening here?!" he said loudly, rushing forward and taking her hand. "What brought this on all of a sudden?"_

"_The thorns," she whispered, gesturing around them. Harry looked and saw that the thorny vines were moving slightly like thousands of tentacles. He pulled her against his chest and moved further away from them. "What's going on," he asked her._

"_I don't know," she confessed. "But it's nothing good I can tell you that."_

"_Listen," Harry said, pushing her back so that he could see her face. "I don't have the slightest clue to what's going on here. But listen, I won't let anything happen to you."_

_She shook her head. "After you left," she told him, "These thorns appeared. They began taking over everything… it's like they're killing everything that they touch. When you came here… I just knew that this might be the last time I see you. I can't help but feel that way. I love you, Harry. I wanted to tell you that in case something happened. I don't care if you don't love me. I just want…"_

_Harry's mind was completely blank, he simply held her tightly against his—his heart pounding so hard that he thought it might burst through his chest. "I just…" he croaked out, but before he could explain what was going on inside his heart, he felt something grab his leg._

_Letting out a yell, he looked down to see that the thorns had come up from the ground underneath his feet and had started wrapping tightly around his legs._

_He then heard her screaming and his head jerked up to see that the vines that were attached to the castle had reached out to form hands and had wrapped themselves around her and began pulling her away. "NO!" Harry screamed, grapping her hands, refusing to let go, but then the vines wrapped themselves around his waist and crept up his chest and arms until they held him back as her hands continued to slip through his fingers. She screamed, trying desperately to hold onto him._

"_No," she cried, "No, Harry…"_

"_What's happening?!" he called to her._

"_I don't know!" she screamed as the thorns continued to try to pull them apart. "But they're taking me somewhere! To that castle!"_

"_What do I have to do?!" he screamed, her hands slipping through his._

_She shook her head, "I don't know… but I just want you to know that I love you Harry… if I had to wait all this time just to meet you then I don't regret it. I gave you my heart a long time ago, but I've just been too afraid to say otherwise…"_

_A single tear fell down her face and she smiled, "I just wish that I could've kissed you… just once…"_

_And then Harry couldn't hold on. Her hands slipped away. "NO!" he screamed and watched as she was pulled into the darkness by the thorns. _

_After she disappeared, Harry continued to hang there, his hands outstretched, desperate to grab her hand again. Up until now he had no idea what his own feelings had been, but this pain… the thought of never seeing her again hurt more than any physical wound. It was only when she was pulled away from him did he finally understand._

"_I LOVE YOU TOO!" he yelled. "AND I WILL FIND YOU!"_

_*End of Dream*_

His eyes snapped open, and he was back in the cell. He sat up, gasping for breath as he stared around, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Harry?" Hermione called to him anxiously. "Harry, what's wrong?"

"We've got to get out of here," he said, sweat pouring down his face.

"We know that," Ron snapped in annoyance. "We've been trying to get out of here since they first dragged us here!"

"No!" Harry called desperately. "I've got to help her! I've got to get out of here! She needs help!"

"Who needs help?" Ron asked sounding completely bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

Harry ignored him as he looked to Hermione, whose eyes widened in understanding. "It's her again isn't it?"

He nodded once.

Hermione gave him a piteous look. "Harry, she's just part of a dream."

"She's not a dream!" he yelled back urgently, trying to force his way out of the chains. "She needs my help! She's in trouble!"

"Who does?" Ron repeated.

"The girl in his dreams," she told him.

"They aren't dreams, Hermione," Harry croaked out. "They never were just _dreams_. She's real… I can feel her."

"Who?" Ron cried out, now sounding angry.

"For a long time now, Harry's been having these dreams about a girl," Hermione explained. "But that's all she's ever been, Harry. I don't know why you're so upset about it all of a sudden…"

"For a long time," Harry interrupted, "I dreamt I was in a different place each time. There's this girl with red hair. She's always there… and she's trapped in a place, unable to escape. She talks to me…"

"A girl with red hair?" Ron repeated in surprise. "Well… they're just dreams."

"No they aren't," Harry repeated irritably. "I can't explain it… but this time she was crying, she's trapped somewhere with thorns…"

"What did you say?" Ron demanded. "Thorns?"

"She's trapped inside some castle covered with thorns," Harry said hurriedly, now feeling blood dripping down his wrists as the chains cut into his skin. "She needs help… I think that she might be running out of time or something."

He was so focused on getting his hands free, he didn't notice the startled expression on his face. "What did this girl look like?" he asked slowly.

Harry described her, "Hair redder than a rose, pale skin, warm brown eyes…"

'_Perfect,'_ he added in an afterthought. "She's tough as nails thought… and just as strong… but she was crying because she's trapped."

Ron was staring at him.

"It's fine if you don't believe me," Harry snapped.

"No…" Ron croaked out. "It's not that. Mate, you just described my sister."

He looked up at him. "What?" he asked. "Your sister?" They all stared at each other.

"You mean to tell me that the person that we've been looking for all this time was you?" Ron repeated, staring at him.

"Wait, what?" Harry demanded.

"Everything you just said!" Ron repeated. "That's my sister that you're talking about! Down to the last detail!"

"I don't know if she's your sister," Harry said at once. "I didn't even know her name and…"

"Ginny," Ron said at once. "Her name is Ginevra! But everyone just calls her Ginny."

"Ginny…" Harry said, thinking of the girl. Was it true? Could she really be…?

Hermione suddenly gasped, her eyes as round as coins as she stared at Harry. "What he said…"

"What who said?" Ron asked.

"Remember what Dumbledore said?" Hermione said, continuing to stare at Harry. "_In the princess's dreams will the answer be revealed? _Or something like that? This must be what he meant! Harry… if this is all true… then I think that you're the only one who could break that curse."

Ron gapped like a fish out of water. "W-what?" he croaked out finally, not having a clue to what she said. He wasn't the only one though.

Harry wasn't fairing much better. A princess? Could it really be possible that she was really? He shook his head. He didn't know… but he didn't care. He didn't care if that girl was a princess or not. He just knew that he had to get to her.

"First things first," Harry said, glaring at the door. "We've got to get out of here."

**(So they finally figure it out! Any ideas to what you would all like to see next? I'm still working on how to make their great escape from Voldemort. Feel free to share your ideas.)**


	20. Fight with the Snake

**Chapter 19: Fight with the Snake**

Those next hours had been the longest of their lives. They were all aching and sore, but thankfully, they had been left alone to plan some kind of escape. But as they discussed ideas, Harry couldn't help but notice how Ron kept looking at him strangely.

"What?" Harry asked him wearily. "Listen… if it's about Ginny, then I have to tell you that I don't have the slightest idea to what or how it happened either."

"No, it's not that," Ron said, but Harry could tell that he was lying. "It's just that it feels like we've been doing nothing but running around in circles."

"I know," Harry sighed. "And I told you before that I'm sorry for this. But how was I supposed to know who she was? I've been having those dreams long before I even met you."

Ron hesitated and asked suspiciously, "And what are these dreams about?"

"Nothing big," Harry told him. "I don't have them every night… but I've been having them a lot more recently since we starting on this quest. I would meet her in the forest, or a field, or once it was a castle… but it was always different. See, she didn't know who she was… she couldn't even remember her name. We would just sit and talk. I'd tell her what kind of things we were up to… over a while we somehow became friends. But just last night, something really bad happened. I don't know how or why, but I saw that she was trapped by all these dark thorns. She said that she needs help and I know that I need to help her…"

He didn't tell Ron what Ginny had said about her loving him… he had a feeling that probably wasn't the best thing to say at the moment.

Ron stared at him for a moment before he sighed. "Well, I suppose that I prefer you to just someone random person for my stupid sister to love." He looked up at him and said, "I won't stand in the way of true love… heck, this is actually good for everyone if we know who can wake her up. But let me say just one thing. If we live to get out of here and we do manage to wake her up? If I ever hear that you aren't taking good care of her… I will kill you."

"I'll bare that mind," Harry said seriously as he went back to the task at hand. For the last few hours, he had been pulling at his bonds. As he felt the chains digging into his skin, he realized that he was still lying on all the slime on the floor and he got a burst of inspiration. Rolling onto his back, he rubbed the slime on his wrists and then attempted to slip out. After about twenty minutes, and a lot of grime, he was finally able to free one of his hands.

"Oh," he groaned in pain as he slowly pulled it out and stared at it. Though it was covered by so much filth it was hard to tell—but he could feel the terrible stinging and feel the warm blood mixed in with it all.

"Great," Ron muttered, as Harry reached up to rub the swollen flesh. "You got your arms free! We might be able to get out of this mess after all!"

"How?" Harry winced as his whole body ached. "I still can't get these bars open."

"But we're onto something," Hermione said with certainty. "You and I both have our hands free! Harry, do you think you might be able to pick these locks?"

Gritting his teeth, he forced his aching body up and to inspect the lock. "Maybe," he said doubtfully. "If I had something to pick with then I might be able to do something. But like I told you before, those jerks took everything we had with us." He then reached into the pouch around his neck and pulled out the little blood-red stone. "Everything but this that is…"

He played with it in his hands, trying to figure out a way to get these bars open. Ron and Hermione were both arguing with each other on what to do.

Harry absent mindedly began to shake the bars in frustration… that's when something very strange happened. The bars started to disintegrate. With a startled cry, he leapt back as one of the bars had eroded until there wasn't anything left.

Ron and Hermione both stared at it with their mouths wide open.

"The the bloody hell…?" Ron finally croaked out as Harry reached forward to touch what remained of the bars.

"It's gone…" Harry whispered, stating the obvious.

"What did you do?" Hermione whispered.

"Nothing!" Harry cried out. "I just sorta touched the bars and…" he looked down at his hand to see the little stone sparkling in the dim light… there was something different with it…

"The stone!" he gasped. "It's smaller!"

"What?" Ron yelled out. "No way…"

"I swear, look!" he cried, holding it out for them to see. Though it was hard to tell, the little pebble, was indeed a little smaller.

Hermione's eyes grew as wide as coins and gasped dramatically. "OH! The Stone! I get it! I remember Dumbledore mentioning that we needed the stone in order to get through the palace walls right? Maybe this was what he meant?"

Harry stared down at it. It seemed innocent enough. Looking up at the rest of the bars he said, "One way to find out."

Holding it tightly, he began shaking the bars again. And sure enough… the bar that had the stone touching it seemed to rust and corrode until it was large enough for him to squeeze through.

"I can't believe this," Ron whispered as Harry pushed his way out. "We could've gotten out anytime and we didn't even know it!"

Harry glanced at the stone and saw that it had shrunk again.

"You know something?" Hermione said, as he placed the very tip of one end to the remaining shackle on his wrist and watching it fall apart. "I remember reading about alchemy… how there were some substances that could react violently with other metals or turn them into something else. You think that this might be have something to do with this?"

"We can ask Dumbledore himself when we get out," Harry said firmly. "But we have to be careful. Looks like every time we use this thing, it gets smaller. If we use it too much then we won't be able to get inside that castle."

"Alright," Ron said at once, moving up so that he was on his knees. "Just use it to get us out of these stupid cells and then we get the hell out of here."

Harry nodded and quickly pressed the rock against Hermione's cell. Once enough of the bars had melted for her to get out, he passed the stone to her so that she could help Ron. He then went to the door and pressed his ear against it to see if he could hear anything.

"I don't think that we're being guarded," Harry said as he heard the slight hissing of metal being destroyed. "We might be able to leave…"

He looked back to see that Hermione had slipped in through the melted bars and was helping to free Ron's hands. "Are you going to be ok?" she asked him anxiously.

"I've definitely been better," Ron moaned as she touched the chains with a slight tip of the stone. "But I think I'll be alright. I know that I'll feel better being able to use my hands again."

The stone had destroyed a single link in the chain, after that, it was easy to get Ron untied. As he stood up, Hermione passed the stone back to Harry, who stared at it. There was no doubt that it was almost half the size it had been.

"We can't keep using it," Harry whispered. "At this rate, we'll use it up before we'll even get out of here."

"Now what do we do?" Ron asked, rubbing his wrists. Harry held the stone up, knowing that there was no other choice, and gently placed it to the metal lock on the door. As he thought, the lock melted to nothing and he softly turned the handle… "It's unlocked," he told them as he quickly placed the stone safely into the pouch around his neck and tucked it safely away.

"Wait," Hermione said at once. "We still need a plan! We can't just go walking out and expect nothing to happen!"

Harry let go of the handle and looked at her. "Ok, what do we do? We can't stay here for long! They're going to come in here sooner or later."

"We have to get the key, the sword, and find a way out," Hermione said firmly. "First, we have to figure out where they're being kept…"

"I'm sure that the sword is still in the throne room," Harry said at once. "And if I had to guess, then Voldemort would have the key on him."

Hermione bit her lip, as if that was what she was afraid of.

"How about this?" Harry asked her. "You figure out how to get out of here," he then turned to Ron, "While we go and get the sword and key, ok?"

"Harry…?" Hermione whispered fearfully.

"We'll be ok," he assured her. "Look, I know what I'm doing. He may be powerful, but I'm sure to think of something."

His friends looked up at him before Hermione hugged him. "I'm trusting you here. Promise me that you'll be ok?"

She pulled away from him and looked at them both. "Both of you?"

Ron nodded, and for some reason looked a little upset that she didn't hug him too.

"Ok," Harry said, "Now we'll meet up as soon as we can." He softly creaked open the door just a crack so that he could peek out. No one was there. He opened it a little wider and was now cautiously sticking his head out. The dark stone walls were all around him, but still nothing. No one shouting, running, or trying to stop them from escaping…

"Ok," he whispered. "Coast is clear. Let's go."

They all stepped out. "I think I remember where the way to the throne is," he told them.

"I remember the way out," Hermione said. "I was still awake when they brought me here. I remember passing some rooms and there's a stable right near the front gate. I'll go and see if I can find anything to help us out. I'll see you both soon."

"Be careful," Ron called softly after her.

"I'll be fine," she answered and tiptoed down the hall. "Good luck, take care!"

"Get going," Harry called quietly. They watched until she was out of their sights and the two boys crept the opposite way.

Down the hallway, trying hard to remember the way to the throne room, yet, they were dreading what would come when they did get there. They soon spotted some suits of armors littering the hall and they each grabbed a weapon. Harry grabbed a sword, while Ron grabbed a mace. They didn't meet anyone on the way, and soon found the right way. But as they poked their heads from around a corner they spotted the same guards who had taunted them earlier, standing in front of the throne room doors.

"On three," Harry whispered to Ron who nodded in understanding. Harry then held up three fingers, both of them getting ready.

Three… he put down a finger…

Two… he put down a second one…

One…

"NOW!" he yelled and they charged out from behind the corner. They had the element of surprise on their side. The two guards, who hadn't been paying attention, never saw what hit them.

They ended up getting the jump on them, and they were out cold before they even hit the floor. "In here!" Ron called and they ended up breaking into the throne room. And there he was. Voldemort was sitting, high and mighty, on his throne, his snake slithering around his shoulders like a scarf.

"Well, well, well…" he whispered. "Now was that really polite? I think that it would've been obvious by now that I was expecting you. I would have gladly opened the door."

He held up his hand and the doors ended up shutting behind them loudly. Harry glared at him, his eyes turning to the sword that was still sitting beside the throne where he last saw it.

"If you knew that we were going to escape, why let us?" he asked coldly.

"Because then I would never get my answer," he answered coolly as he reached into his robes and pulled out the battered-looking key. He played with it in his long hands as the snake flicked its tongue out at them, tasting the air.

"I told you," Harry lied, his palms starting to sweat at the thought. "I don't know what the heck you're talking about."

Voldemort tilted his head. "Strange now isn't it? Last time you said that, I could see that you weren't lying… but now you seemed scared for real. What has caused this change?"

Instead of answering, Harry held up the sword he stole and pointed the blade directly to Voldemort's chest. He ran his fingers forcefully through his tangled hair so that he could see. But he held the sword high, ready to fight his way out of here.

Voldemort, who hadn't moved an inch from where he sat, laughed.

"Really, boy," he called, a smug smile on his face. "You honestly think that you stand a chance against me?"

"We won't know unless I try!" he shouted, out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Ron edging away to the side. He didn't know what to do; he had only ever used wooden swords to play with when he was a little kid—but a real one? But he had to do something, he had to get back to Ginny—she was waiting for him.

He was afraid of what he would do, but he knew that he had to try. "You can try to take my life, but you will never stop me." His eyes flashed as he held the sword up. "I won't let you win!"

Voldemort laughed. It was a horrible laugh that made the hairs on Harry's neck stand up. "What a pretty speech," he said as he held his arm out, Nagini ready to strike. "But you are all the same. A child who only knows how to talk big. Before you die, I'll tell you something… weaklings don't get to chose how they die."

Nagini then shot forward like a javelin; her fangs bared as she flew at him. Reacting instantly, Harry raise the sword, and took a wild slash through the air. He missed the snake, but it was enough to get him to move out of the way in time.

The large snake reared up on the floor, it's huge head turned to him with its mouth wide open—fangs like knives. Harry moved quickly, never giving the snake a chance to corner him. But it was quick, and he couldn't get near enough to give it a fatal blow.

He could hear Voldemort laughing. He knew that he must look stupid, dancing around a giant snake, but he couldn't care. As he dodged around everything, he knew it was only a matter of time before the snake backed him too far and bite him.

But just as he was wondering that he heard a loud cry of rage. Harry was so distracted, that he looked up. Ron was there.

Voldemort was so focused on playing with Harry's life, he didn't notice that Ron had snuck around him and had grabbed the sword. But what Harry was focused on was what Ron had done with it. He had went and struck Voldemort in the chest.

Ron was breathing hard, his hands on the ruby sword… "This is for what you did to my family," he hissed to Voldemort. For a second, Harry thought that it was over with…

At least until Ron was suddenly sent flying. He landed on the floor with a loud bang. Harry ran over to him and pulled him away, the tip of the silver sword, that was still in his hands, was covered with blood.

"Never used a sword before have you boy?" demanded Voldemort's voice, and he didn't sound remotely amused now. He was standing up, a hand over the stab wound… but then Harry realized that it wasn't in his chest, but in his shoulder. "Don't use such sharp toys unless you know how to aim!"

He held up his hand, and this time, when Nagini stuck, she aimed at Ron. Harry grabbed the ruby sword from him and stood in front of his friend, and this time, he was able to use the glittering weapon to take off the snake's ugly head… which landed with a loud 'thunk' on the floor.

Breathing hard, Harry stared at the dead snake's head on the ground, marveling at what he had just done. Breathing hard, he turned to glare at Voldemort, who was looking murderous. "We'll be taking that key back now," he demanded as Ron caught his breath, and quickly got back up on his feet as well.

"You think so?" Voldemort asked softly, his red eyes glinting with a kind of dark magic. He raised his hand up again, but just as he opened his mouth, something happened.

The whole castle was starting to shake… almost like miniature explosions were being set off. The ground was starting to crack apart as the ceiling above them was crumbling. Harry stared around him in horror as Ron found his gaze… he could see the same fear and confusion in his eyes…

The castle was being torn apart from the inside.

**(What do you think? I know that it might be a little fast, but battle scenes were never my strong point. I do hope that you enjoyed it. And before you ask, no, Voldemort wasn't the one who made the castle self-destruct.)**


	21. Flight from the Castle

**Chapter 20: Flight from the Castle**

Acrid smoke was now hanging heavy in the air as the walls began to crumble and the ceiling started to cave in. Harry ran forward to grab Ron and pulled him backwards with him to the door. But as they neared it, he looked up to see the furious, red eyes of Voldemort.

The murderous look in those merciless eyes was enough to cause him to freeze. Voldemort's eyes narrowed at him before, with a great sweep of his long, black cloak, and disappeared in a large ball of smoke and through the hole in the ceiling above them.

Breathing hard, Harry snapped himself out of it as he helped Ron to stand up and together they ran.

The castle was crumbling around their ears as they burst through the doors, the smoke in their eyes making it difficult, not only to see, but to breathe as well. As he coughed, he couldn't help but feel as if an earthquake had started, destroying everything around them as the shaking made it almost impossible to stand up. The rumbling noise was so loud that Harry could hardly hear anything that Ron was swearing at the top of his lungs—though he didn't need to hear what he was screaming to have some idea to what was being said.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" he screamed and they bolted to the nearest window and threw themselves out of it.

The drop was higher than they thought it would be…

They were about twenty feet in the air before they landed hard on a deep, slanted roof underneath them. Holding the sword tightly to him, he began to roll down it like how a child would roll down a big hill. Feeling rocks and shards of glass beneath him, he shut his eyes, praying that it would all stop soon.

With a loud 'THUD!' he landed hard in some dirt as they were hit with fall debris. Harry, thinking that he must have broken several ribs from the fall, spit out some more blood. Choking out the dirt he looked up and screamed, "Ron?! RON! ARE YOU OK?! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Suddenly, Ron was there, he was bleeding from the head and holding onto his shoulder, groaning in pain. Harry dragged his aching body up and grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him up. "THIS WAY!" he cried as he dodge the falling rocks, his hand held over his head, trying to give himself some kind of protection.

They stumbled through the mess as the castle began to fall. They didn't have the slightest clue where they were going, but Harry soon heard a familiar voice shouting out, "HARRY! RON! OVER HERE!"

He looked up, and to his greatest relief, saw Hermione was waving them over. It was then he realized that they were running through a large, courtyard and she was standing near a set of wooden doors.

"Hermione?!" he cried as he ran forward.

"Yes! Come on!" she cried. "We've got to go!"

They stumbled towards her and she reached out to take Ron and helped him to walk to the door.

"What do we do?!" Ron screamed.

"We've got to get you home!" Hermione shouted. "We know how to help you now!"

"But how?!" Ron called. "We'll never make it out in time!"

"Through here!" she commanded and they followed her to the wooden doors. She flung it open and Harry saw at once that it was some stables. At least a dozen horses were there, all of them going crazy from the loud noises and crashes.

"Grab a horse and get out of here!" Harry yelled, going for a dark brown horse and jumped up onto its back. He used the sword to whack down the front locks on the stable doors and soon it was a stampede. With their strength, they bolted through the open door, whining and neighing, all the way to the front doors.

With their panic to get out, and the mostly destroyed front gates, getting through was no problems. They were out!

Worried, Harry looked back and was relieved to see that Ron and Hermione were sharing a tan-colored horse and were keeping close pace behind him.

Finally, they broke free and were running as far as they could away from the crumbling building. The other ten horses were already long gone by the time they were free of any falling rocks, but Harry pulled the reins on his horse as he turned to look they turned and watched as it slowly crumbled and fell. Staring at the crumbling ruins, he watched as the black smoke, slithering like a snake, leaving what was left of the castle and disappearing into the twilight sky.

"Voldemort," Harry whispered, blinking blood from his eyes and trying to catch his breath and trying to get his heart rate under control. He felt blood dripping into his vision. He reached up and touched a spot on his forehead where Voldemort hit was still bleeding. "He got away."

"Typical," Ron muttered, his face a mess and having to lean heavily on Hermione to keep him from falling off.

"But what happened in there?" Harry croaked out. "One minute we were fighting Voldemort, and then the next…?"

Hermione looked down in embarrassment and Harry's jaw dropped open. "It was _you_? You cause that to happen?" he waved his hand at what was left of the castle.

"We can talk later," she said firmly as Ron began to slip. "Let's just get out of here first. Ron needs help."

Harry looked over at him and saw that she was right. How he was able to stay upright, was anyone's guess. "Alright…" he said. "Ok, let's go."

And so they shook out the reins and bolted away from the ruins of the castle; they rode on for only a short time however, for they stopped by a river to clean up Ron. By the time they reached the water's edge, it was already dark.

As Hermione helped Ron off the horse, and guided him to the river, she explained what happened. "When I left you guys, I was heading down the hall and down some stairs… I was almost to the courtyard when I heard some servants laughing and I knew they were coming up. I panicked until I saw a door and I hid inside it… I wasn't thinking."

"And then?" Harry asked as he dipped his bleeding wrists into the water and rubbed the filth off.

"The room was filled with all kinds of dark arts stuff," she whispered in disgust. "All sorts of horrible things… there was a glass case that had this awful withered hand on a cushion, evil-looking masks on the walls… and it was also filled with human bones and spiked instruments from the ceiling."

She shuddered and Harry felt shivers going up his spine as well.

"That was when I saw this huge horn on the wall," she went on. "And I knew what it was! I once saw a picture of it in a book when I was little! It was an erumpent horn! And they've been known to explode if they're hit hard enough…"

"Don't tell me," Harry said, a grin on his face.

"Well, it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing," she answered. "I took it down from the wall, and dropped it in the courtyard. It was a bigger explosion than I thought it would be… I was worried that I might have hurt you guys too."

"Oh, we were already in trouble," he answered. "Your _boom_ couldn't have come at a better time."

Ron, who had his head in the water, finally came up for air.

"Did you get them?" Hermione asked.

"Ron was able to get the sword but…" Harry said, feeling terrible. It had been his job to get the key, but he couldn't even do that right…

"Not quite," Ron gasped out, and they were surprised to see that he was grinning.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "I couldn't get the…"

"Key?" he asked, and to their astonishment, Ron reached down the front of his shirt and pulled out the battered looking key, the little wings now trying to fly away.

Their jaws dropped. "How dyou…?" Harry whispered and Ron gave a tired smile.

"I nicked it when I stabbed Voldemort," he said. "He was so angry with me that I don't think he noticed it."

"Stabbed…?" Hermione began, looking terrified.

"It's a fascinating story," Ron said. "But we can talk about it later." He looked to Harry and said seriously. "Look… after everything we've been through… after all that…" he stared at the key for a moment and then held it out to him.

Harry stared at it and then up at Ron.

"I'm trusting you here," he said firmly. "If you really are the person who can save my sister then I'm giving you permission here. After all of this, I decided that I'm not letting her be with just any random bloke."

Harry blinked before he smiled. "You won't be sorry," he said as he reached out and took the key from him. The little wings flapped wearily, and to his surprise, it became steady and limp in his hands. He then stood up.

"Alright," he said. "First we figure out where we are, and how far we are from your kingdom. That's our next stop."

"Home…" Ron said longingly, rubbing the water onto his face to reveal his red freckles. "I'm going home. Take that Fred and George!"

Ron was still a little dizzy from the beating he took when the castle collapsed, so they had to wait a little while before he was strong enough for travel. Hermione had treated his bloody injuries with a gentle hand and some plants that she found when she went a little ways upstream.

"What is this?" he asked as she dabbed the plant over a gash in his arm.

"Essence of Dittany," she told him as she gently mixed the plant with water. "It's a really common plant in these parts. It works to stop with bleeding."

Harry, who was now clean and soaked to the bone, and was now using some Dittany on his bleeding wrists, looked up. He was a little surprised to hear how hard a time Ron was having speaking.

"You—ah—sure know a lot about the land," he mumbled to her.

Hermione laughed. "I have to. I work in the dirt all day."

She used some water to wash off the rest of the plant and Ron gasped when he saw that the bleeding had stopped completely. "Wow," he whispered as he stared at it.

"I think that you'll be just fine," she smiled.

Harry chuckled at the two of them quietly before he stood up and tucked the sword into his belt. They were ready now. They caught their breath and got on their horses again.

"Ok, after they first grabbed us, they only took us a few miles from where we were," she said. "I'm pretty sure that I know the way after looking over the map so many times."

"You ok, Ron?" Harry called to him.

"I've been worse," he answered. "But I'll live! Let's get back!"

And so they took off. Harry was out in front, while Hermione and Ron rode right behind him together. On they urged the horses the night, all of them now knowing what had to be done. They had everything they needed… the stone, sword, and key. But now came the hardest part of all… storming the castle.

On they went, underneath the sky of stars and the light of the mostly full moon that cast them in silver moonlight. They only knew that the castle had to be somewhere west of them and they continued in, what they hoped, was the right direction. Harry didn't speak at all, as he was trying to wrap his mind around what they had to do, he couldn't stop thinking of Ginny and if she was alright.

He had to see her… he had to seen her one more time…

They rode through the rest of the night… and by the time that the glowing sunrise began to peer over the horizon, they could see it shining in the distance. The very tips of the castle…

"THAT'S IT!" Ron shouted from behind him. They urged their horses to go just a little bit farther, deciding that they would let them go once they were close enough. But when they did get near, Harry and Hermione couldn't help but gasp at what they saw.

They finally came to a stop just as they were able to get a feel for how big the castle was.

"It's so… big," Harry breathed. "I never really believed you when you told me about it!"

Hermione didn't seem like she was able to speak at all, and just nodded dumbly, never taking her eyes off what she was staring at. The cursed kingdom that they had heard so much about, but never actually able to see with their own eyes…

An enormous wall that separated the town and castle from the rest of the world; a castle, as tall as a mountain, loomed over them. Thick, black vines covered the walls, cress-crossing each other until it was like a mass of spider webs covering everything.

"It's just…" she whispered in awe. "It's… so big. It feels… like it could last forever."

"Yeah," Ron said softly. It was hard to believe that after all this time… he was finally home.

They got off the horses and took off the reins and ropes. "Thank you," Hermione whispered to them. "You're now free to go wherever you want to, you're free."

Harry and Ron gave their rides grateful pats on their heads before the let them go running off. They watched them go before they turned and got ready for what they had to do now. Harry checked the pouch which held their artifacts and pulled them out. The blood-red stone and the tiny silver key with the fluttering bent wing… he then checked on the sword at his belt before he glanced up at the giant wall.

"This is it," he said quietly. "All we have to do is get past that wall, fight our way to the castle, and find where Ginny is."

"Why does everything have to be so difficult?" Hermione moaned.

"Hermione," he said, casting a sideways glance at her. "Since when has any part of this journey been easy?"

"Fair enough," she sighed.

"Guys? Wait," Ron said. They glanced back at him as he took a deep breath and said, "Thank you… I never would have made it this far without you."

They smiled and Harry clapped his shoulder.

"We're family now," Harry laughed. "We look out for each other. Just promise us that you'll treat us to a huge feast once we get this over with… your highness."

Ron laughed at the sarcastic tone he used with those last two words. "You have a deal. I'll make sure that you both get enough food to burst your stomachs! You haven't had a real feast until you try one here!"

Hermione smiled and took his hand and Harry put the key back into the pouch, but kept the sword and stone out.

"Let's do this," Ron said firmly and they began walking towards the wall.

The vines were covered with black thorns as long as knives—and they covered every inch of the walls so that you could hardly see the white stone beneath it all. It was as silent as a grave.

"Creepy," Harry whispered.

"Tell me about it," Ron whispered back. "It was like this when I first woke up. Just wait until we get inside."

As soon as they got close though, the thorns reached out, as if to wrap around themselves. But Harry instinctually cut the thorns with the sword. The parts he cut fell to the ground with loud 'thudding' noises and laid still. The rest of the vines seemed to be aware of what the sword could do to them and quickly began to move away… like tentacles afraid that they would be next.

"I can see now why Dumbledore said that we needed this," Harry gasped out.

"Let's fine the entrance," Hermione said, looking around. "Oh! There!" she gasped, pointing to one side of the wall. "Where the road leads to the wall! That must be it!"

They hurried to where she pointed but found nothing. "I don't see anything," Ron said.

"How can you see anything with all this in the way?" she demanded, pointing to the vines. Harry immediately began hacking at the vines at the wall. It took several minutes, but he was able to hack enough away to see that there was a large, stone doorway there.

"So this is it," Harry whispered, his hand going to the stone in his pocket.

"Wait…" Hermione whispered suddenly. "I just remembered something."

"What now?" Ron asked tiredly.

"It's just…?" Hermione whispered, suddenly going pale. "Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of guard here?"

Harry stared at her, also remembering what Dumbledore said about their supposed to be some kind of creature guarding this place. But they hadn't seen anything yet…?

"Ugh!" cried Ron, making them jump. Ron was wiping something thick and slimy off his shoulder. "What is this?"

That was when they felt hot breath and very slowly looked up—somehow knowing that what they were going to see wasn't going to be pretty. And they were right. For when they looked up, they were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog. But not just any dog. A dog with three heads, each head with a pair of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs…

And each mouth big enough to swallow them whole. The dog opened its three jaws and struck. Screaming they dodged around it, moving around, trying to avoid its mouths as it snarled at them. The dog may have had size on its side, but it was slow—they knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before it got lucky and hit them.

Harry moved around and through the tangle of legs, trying to avoid being hit as he used the sword to slash at every inch of it he could reach. But he seemed to just be making it worse. Hermione dodged around, always making sure that's she stayed right behind the dog; and then Ron would run from the saliva dripping mouths.

That was when Harry ended up tripping over one of the dog's enormous feet. When he tripped, he dropped the sword… as soon as it went flying out of his hands, he thought for sure that it was over for him, but that was when something miraculous happened. When the sword hit the ground, it made an echoing, vibrating sound. And at that note, the dog stopped dead in its tracks. Harry spun around to look up at it and was amazed to see that its eyes closing a little bit as if sleepy.

Taking a chance, Harry pushed himself back to his feet and grabbed the sword so that he could drop it again. Again, the soft sound came and the dog continued to sway where it was. Three—four—five more time he made the sound until finally, the dog drifted off into sleep.

Harry quickly fished what was left of the stone out of his pocket and threw it to Ron as he dropped the sword again. "Hurry," he gasped to them, and they nodded at once. As Harry continued to keep the dog asleep, he watched as his friends ran to the door and used the stone to melt the door. Because the stone was so much smaller, they ended up using the whole thing quickly… but not before it was able to melt a hole just wide enough for them to slip through.

Ron cautiously stuck his head through the hole and looked around. "Alright!" he called in a loud whisper. "Cost is clear so far!"

He was the first to climb in, still holding tightly onto the mace he got from Voldemort's castle. Harry carefully made his way around the dog, still making the echoing sound to keep it asleep until he was able to watch Hermione scramble through the door after Ron.

He dropped the sword one more time before he snatched it up and sprinted to the door.

The last thing he heard was the dog give a loud snort as it woke up before he jumped headfirst through the wall… and into the sleeping kingdom.

**(So they finally made it! What do you all think? Next chapter: they get through all the other traps that are set up. Anyone want to give any suggestions to what they find? I'd love to hear it.)**


	22. Dangerous Dream

**Chapter 21: Dangerous Dream**

Harry pushed himself up and onto his shaky feet as he stared around him, the sword held tightly in his hands. Ron and Hermione were a few feet in front of them, both of them staring around in a daze.

His eyes widened as he realized what had just happened and where he was. Like thick spider webs, everything was covered with the branch-thick vines and closed flowers buds… nothing moved… no sound, there wasn't even a whisper of wind. It was like everything had been turned to stone and the plants took over.

It was as silent as a graveyard.

He shivered at that as he continued to walk down the cobblestone streets, trying to avoid all the deadly plantlife—while at the same time avoiding tripping over people. It looked like everyone fell asleep where they stood… dropping whatever it was that they were doing as soon as the spell had activated.

Ron kept his eyes up ahead of him, his back to them.

"Ron?" he called to him.

Raising a shaking hand, Ron pointed in front of them to where the palace was. "That's it!" he called. "We have to head there! Ginny's inside at the top of the tower!"

Harry looked up at once, and thought it was difficult to see at this distance, he could just make out the tallest tower and a black window. He stepped forward and said, "Let's go!"

"Lead the way, Ron," Hermione agreed firmly.

He nodded and they ran through the kingdom of sleeping people. Harry hacked away at the countless vines, trying hard not to step on someone. But it was clear that none of them were the slightest big aware of what was going on around them—they all continued to sleep, not budging an inch.

"Just when I think that we're getting close to it, I see that we still have a long way to go," Harry gasped about twenty minutes later, carefully stepping over a fat man, while trying to duck underneath a thick thorn that was as sharp as a knife at the same time.

"I know," Ron gasped, wiping his brow of sweat. "I used to say that when I snuck out when I was a kid. You get used to it though. We'll be there soon."

"Both of you keep your voices down," Hermione hissed, staring around her anxiously. "I doubt that the protections that Dumbledore put up were just that dog and these creepers. There must be something else here."

Harry nodded in agreement. He kept his hand on the sword tightly and made their way through the town. After a couple more minutes, Ron called back to her, for she was starting to lag behind, "Come on, Hermione!"

"Easy for you guys to say!" she yelled back, her dress had caught hold of the thorns and she was trying to tug it free. "You both have weapons and aren't wearing a dress!"

"Try the guards!" Harry called back, trying to pull his sleeve free after it was caught until it ripped. "There're guards everywhere! You can pick up a sword or something."

At Harry's suggestion, she looked around and soon had found a staff with a heavy metal tip at one end from one of the sleeping guards who had obviously been doing patrol through the city. As she tried to catch up, the boys found themselves on a road that were empty of sleepers, a road that would have led them straight up to the front doors. But as they waited for Hermione to catch up, the creepers had suddenly come to life.

They were completely surrounded and had no way of fighting them off. The foliage latched out and began wrapping themselves around them like snakes… Harry tried to cut them free, but the arm that held the sword was tied tightly and he ended up dropping it and it landed with another songlike clatter.

Ron wasn't any better and his mace fell away as they were both picked up off the ground and the vines started to wrap around them tightly; cutting off their air. Because Hermione had fallen behind, she didn't get near enough for the vegetation on the road to get her, but now she was forced to watch in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "Can't you see that it's making it worse?!"

"Yeah, we noticed that," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck.

"Shut up, I'm trying to think of a way out of this!" Hermione screamed.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.

"Vines—plants… what stops a plant…?" Hermione was crying out to herself before she suddenly gasped and looked around desperately. She spotted a house nearby and had an idea! She went charging inside it, not caring as the thorns cut her and tore her clothes.

'_Please let one be here, please let one be here,'_ she kept thinking over and over again as she went bursting through the door and looking around wildly for it.

The boys watched as she went running into the house, with Ron shouting after her, "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? What's that gonna do?!"

The thorns were cutting into Harry's skin and he was having a hard time breathing as he felt blood dripping down his arms. But then, Hermione came dashing out of the house, something small in her hands. She knelt down to the side of the road and stuck against the greenery, and Harry realized that it was a flint.

Almost at once, yellow flames began to burn and crept up the tendrils. And as they spred, the grip around them was lessening and the boys were able to pull themselves free. Harry then grabbed the sword and Ron his mace while Hermione jumped in and together, the three of them were able to take out enough that they drew away.

"I think I'm going to kill Dumbledore for this," Harry hissed to himself before he turned to hug Hermione. "Don't know what we would've done without you here," he gasped. "We owe you big time for that."

She smiled. "Anytime," she whispered, pulling back. "We'll kill Dumbledore later. The sooner we get this over, the happier I'll be."

Pulling themselves up, they ran forward, the pathway cleared. But when they reached the stone steps, they met another challenge.

As they ran up the stairs, they saw them—there were four statues there… a statue of a tall King, a cold-looking Queen, and two white knights on horses. "We're almost there," Ron gasped, in the lead. "I know a way inside…"

But as they ran past the statue of the king, Harry felt goosebumps going up his spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was wrong. But before he could figure out what this bad feeling was, he heard Hermione screaming.

He looked up just in time for the arm of the king shot out, trying to hit him with his stone sword. He ducked in time, feeling the wind from his hand blow his hair. The statue king, queen, and knights came to life and headed towards them.

"Run around them!" Harry called, getting into a sword fight with the king.

"There's another way in!" Ron shouted, backing away from one of the knights. "There's a statue of an ugly witch with a hump! Around the castle's other side! It's right over a secret passage! All you have to do is…" but he never had the chance to finish for at that moment, the queen had charged up behind him and struck him so hard that he was out before his head hit the ground.

Hermione screamed and ran from the knight that she was fighting and to him.

Harry had left behind his fight with the king as well and almost flew to their side. "Ron? RON?!"

Hermione was kneeling beside him, Ron was groaning slightly at her touch, a blood lump on his head. "He's out," Hermione cried out, starting to panic, staring around her, as if hoping for someone to help them. Harry bit his lip as the statues began to advance on them. He began weighing his options… this wasn't good. They couldn't fight them like this. Though the statues were big and strong, but he could also see that they were slow too; they could've outrun them, but with Ron like this…?

"We have to drag him," Harry said at once. "We've got to get out of here."

"But how do we get in?" Hermione cried in terror as the four statues came closer.

"Find the statue he talked about," Harry said quickly, and together, they picked up Ron from the ground—wrapping his arms around their shoulders, and ran as hard as they could. Harry knew that they only had a few minutes before the statues were sure to catch up to them.

They ran around the side of the castle walls, down the stairs and to the side, ignoring the plant life as they ran. One good thing about it was that it also slowed down the statues, however, they were big enough that it didn't hold them back for long.

Breathing hard, Harry was staring around him for some kind of miracle.

"There!" Hermione called and he looked to see her pointing far to the left; there was an ugly statue of an old woman with a large hump.

"That has to be it," Harry gasped as they continued to drag Ron with them. It took a lot of effort, but they reached it in time. Together, the two of them began pulling on the trailing plants to get them off the statue, trying to find some kind of way inside.

"How do we open it?" Hermione demanded in a panicked voice.

"I—I don't know," Harry admitted, fear creeping up into his own heart. "Ron was knocked out before he could say how."

Hermione looked ready to cry as they felt around in desperation, looking back to see that the statues were getting closer. The queen lumbering over the pavement, scraping along with a horrible grinding sound as the two knights slashed their way through on their stone horses, who were neighing and snorted… as for the king, he just took large steps and cut his way a path easily. He was the one closest to them, and would be among them any second.

Desperate for some more time, Harry picked up his sword and ran forward to duel with the king, trying to give Hermione some way to think of a plan because he didn't have one. "Dumbledore… I am going to kill you for this," he hissed as he panted with the effort of keeping the king busy. But the king kept battling forward, making Harry step back just to stay alive. And then, with a great swing, the king tried to take off Harry's head with his stone sword in one might swing. He missed Harry, as he dodged it and rolled to the side, but rather he heard a horrible crashing, slicing sound.

Quickly looking up, he saw that the king had actually, taken off the top of the witch's hump. Hermione, who was cowering underneath the witch as the top had been taking off, was covering Ron's body with her own, to try and protect it.

"Hermione!" he called, hoping that she would snap out of it.

She looked up and he pointed wildly at the hole, and she looked up to see it. Understanding at once, she pulled herself up, and tried to get Ron through the narrow hole.

Harry looked past the king to see that the queen and two knights were also starting to get nearer with every second. They were almost out of time. Hermione had to get Ron and herself through before he could jump in. He was getting tired, but he was also sure that these guys couldn't follow them inside the tunnel…

At least he hoped not.

He did his best to hold him off while Hermione struggled to pull up Ron's body up and through the hole with her. Given Ron's dead weight, he knew that she wouldn't be able to do it on her own here. With a wild slash, he caused the king to drop his sword before he jumped up onto the platform with them, and tried to help her by pushing Ron's body up as she pulled.

And with one great heave, they managed to pull him up and the two of them disappeared through the darkness.

"Now, Harry!" Hermione screamed from inside and Harry picked up his sword just as the king came at him again.

He didn't have time for this…

The other three were only feet away, the knights holding up swords of their own. He could barely hold off one of them, he knew that he didn't stand a chance against them. The statue towered over him and as Harry rolled away, he had another idea. Positioning himself, he knocked off the king's crown—the king—distracted, turned its empty face towards its crown.

Harry then used the king to give himself a boost, and diving through the narrow opening, just as the knights threw their swords at him. He could feel one of their sharp stone's graze his side. He cried out in pain as he slid down a dark slide and went sprawling at the foot of it.

"Harry!" gasped Hermione's voice and he looked up. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything, but he felt a smaller hand on his arm, and knew that it was Hermione.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

Harry hissed in pain as he felt his bleeding wound. "I got cut…" he whispered, and heard her gasp. "I can't see anything so I can't tell how bad… it doesn't feel that deep though."

"Wait," Hermione cried out as she let go. Harry listened and heard her ripping cloth. A second later, there was light… Hermione had torn off parts of her dress and used the flint she still had to light it. She lit it and it cast them all in a feeble light. She was covered in dirt, and as pale as a ghost. But she leaned forward to look at him.

Harry finally looked around to see that they were in a very narrow, low, earthy passageway. He couldn't hear anything happening above them, but knew that they escaped the statues. He leaned back against the wall and looked down to see his shirt had blood on it.

"Let me see," Hermione commanded as she crawled forward, putting her hand into her pocket she pulled out some dittany.

"I saved some of it when he stopped by that river," she told him as she dabbed the plant on his side. Harry tried not to wince as the sharp leaves touched him. He stayed quiet as he let her work.

"I'll be ok," he told her, staring around and spotted Ron a few feet away. "How's he?"

"He got hit pretty hard," Hermione confessed to him grimly. She gave him the dittany leaves before she crawled over to Ron and put the last of it onto the bleeding wound in his head. As Harry worked on his side, Hermione had pulled Ron's head up onto her lap and started to try to wake him up. As they started to catch their breath, and the little light from their torch began to burn itself out, Ron finally started to move and opened his eyes a crack.

Harry, whose side was now stinging, but no longer bleeding, sighed in relief as he crawled forward to him to see him for himself. Ron looked up at them, not understanding what was happening.

"What's going on?" he asked them as he sat up, his hand to his head.

"We made it through the passageway," Harry told him.

"And it wasn't easy," Hermione agreed. "But we got away from them. But more importantly, are you alright?"

Ron stared around them, looking confused, but at least he was awake. They waited for about half an hour until they had rested enough for them to start moving again. Hermione helped to support him as the three of them trooped through the dark tunnel.

"Where does this lead out?" Harry panted next to him, supporting Ron's left side, Hermione—his right.

"The… the inner gardens," Ron croaked out, but sounding stronger than he had. "It was a secret passage that my brothers Fred and George found by accident one day. I saw them use it once, and I'd been using it to sneak out once in awhile. It's a shortcut…"

"Right into the castle?" Hermione gasped.

"Almost in the middle," Ron admitted. "When we get out, we'll be right off the Great Hall. It's a small garden that my mother made. From there, we should be able to get inside and head up to Ginny. She better appreciate all this you know? This is far from easy."

The passage twisted and turned, more like the burrow of a giant rabbit than anything else. Soon though, though they long since lost their light and were pretty much stumbling around in the dark. But after a short while, they ended up tripping over something.

When they fell, Harry's head collided with some wood. Feeling around in the dark, they appeared to be some very old, worn-out steps.

"Stairs?" Harry panted.

"Forgot about those," Ron muttered. "Sorry."

"Come on," Hermione whispered, and together the three of them climbed up the tired stairs, the darkness pressed in around them, almost suffocating as the continued to climb, feeling the stairs with their hands, the stairs creaking loudly with every step.

Just as they were beginning to wonder if they would ever see daylight again, their heads collided with something hard and made of stone.

"Where are we now?" Harry asked, wincing in pain from the impact. Feeling around his head, and his hand hit some kind of a latch.

"The exit," Ron said, swaying where he stood, "Forgot about that too…"

"You need to start remembering this," Hermione said with a 'tut' in her tone.

As Harry pulled the latch, he pushed the stone up a little to see a sliver of daylight creeping in.

"Ok," he said into the darkness to the other two. "I'm going to go up first. If it's safe, I'll call you. No sense in risking all of us."

"Ohhh, be careful Harry," Hermione whispered.

"I'll be fine," Harry promised her, gripping her hand tightly for a second. "Just take care of Ron ok? I'll signal you when it's safe."

Holding the sword tightly in his hands, he reached up again, and forced the door open. He then stuck his head out into the open air, his eyes blinking in the light. He seemed to have been coming up from under one of the tiles of the stone courtyard. As he thought, there were hundreds of vines and thorns covering the garden as well.

Slowly, he pushed the stone out of his way, and pulled himself up. Once he was on his knees he stuck his head back into the hole. He could just make out his friend's anxious faces.

"So far, so good," he said to them. "You stay here. I'm going to look around…"

He moved the tile back into place, but also leaving it open just a crack for them. He then stood up and glanced around him.

Harry blinked slowly, trying to determine whether or not what he was seeing was truly real. Huge slabs of stone lay on the grass-covered ground, accompanied by torn vines. It was a garden—and a wild one at that. In fact, it was not so much a 'garden', as it was an area of organic growth that exploded with colors.

Trees rose up in small groups, with the occasional huge one standing alone. Bushes with small glittering flowers grew around these trees, and grass sprung up on the ground. Among the grass, were wildflowers that were no less beautiful than ones that were cared for in modern gardens.  
Harry even thought that he could hear the trickling of a fountain, though it was hard to tell.

An almost unearthly wind blew around from seemingly nowhere, encircling Harry in a soft embrace before blowing off deeper into the garden. He closed his eyes to just enjoy the sensations of being in this place, for it seemed to be almost… magical.

Yes, that was it.

It was like a scene straight from a fairy tale.

He opened his eyes again and he could see it.

Across from him, mostly covered by the thick trees, was a wall of stone, as was partially anticipated. However, in the middle of this great barricade, there was embedded, a set of double entranceway doors. These were crafted from a deep red colored wood. They were perpendicular to the floor, but rounded in the top, and the entranceway was lined by a golden archway with intricate designs engraved on it.

In all appearance, it seemed as though no ruin had been brought to the structure itself, but as Harry lowered his gaze to the ground, he saw many chunks of stone lying among the quickly withering plants. In fact, there was enough of the rocky material to have easily covered the standing wall.

He was in half a mind to go to the others and to tell them that the coast was clear just when he heard a strange hissing sound.

Stopping dead in his tracks, he felt sweat pouring down his face at the familiar voice spoke, "Not bad…"

Staring around for the source, he felt as if chills were going up his spine.

"You almost made it through and are a step away from breaking my curse," said the voice again, and Harry spun around and there he was.

Lord Voldemort had appeared in front of the doorway, his red eyes were narrow slits, and his pale face was alive with malice.

"But do you have what it takes to go on even further?" he asked with a wicked smile. "Because I don't intend for you to leave this place… alive."

"Voldemort…" Harry whispered, fear sinking in as Voldemort laughed, a cold—terrifying laugh that seemed to echo around him so that there were ten Voldemorts laughing at him.

"Yes," he said with a sneer. "And this time… you don't stand… a ghost of a chance of living…"

**(Ok, this was almost a painful chapter to write. I'm almost done with this semester, and I'm taking the night off to study. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I think that there will be two more chapters and an epilogue left to go. I hope that you are looking forward to it. Next chapter, will be the final showdown between Voldemort and our trio. Will they beat him and break the curse? Find out as soon as I get it done.)**


	23. True Loves Kiss

**Chapter 22: True Loves Kiss**

Harry froze, not believing what he was seeing. Voldemort was standing there above him, looking down with a rather hungry look in those eyes. His long black robes billowing behind him even though there was no wind—he twisted his head around as he glared down at him and Harry felt sweat pouring down his face as he took a step back. He then heard a mad cackle and suddenly a woman stepped out from behind Voldemort. She was a rather ugly woman with a tangled mess of black hair, a yellow and wasted face, and a look of madness in her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Harry demanded Voldemort, hoping that his voice didn't sound as panicky as he felt. "Haven't you done enough damage to this place?"

"I should be asking you that," Voldemort asked lightly. "After all, you ended up destroying my castle, and killing off almost all of my servants only to come straight to this cursed kingdom. The only one I have left is Bellatrix here."

The woman cackled again at his words as she looked all doey-eyed at Voldemort. Harry fought the urge to be sick at the twisted look on her face. She then looked down at him like her master was doing and asked in a baby voice, "Oh, little baby still think that he can break the curse?" She cackled hysterically and finished by saying, "Don't tell me you honestly think that _you're_ the one who can wake up the princess? Wake up from your dream little farm boy."

Harry gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe his luck. They had come all this way just to be killed by these two? He wasn't going to stand for it.

Voldemort glanced at her for a moment before he looked back down to Harry and asked, "Is that true? Do you really think that all you have to do is kiss the princess? I agree—you need to wake up. True _love_…" he said that last word as if it was a disgusting swear word, "Doesn't exist. That you believe that one kiss will be enough to break my curse? And even if it could, what makes you think that she would want you? She has power and wealth… while you…" he sneered. "You're a boy who lives on a dirt-poor farm. You're all struggling just to get by are you not? Why would she want you?"

"Just what do you want?!" Harry demanded again, trying his best to ignore all his words. "Why don't you both leave this place!? Can't you leave these people alone? They haven't done anything to you!"

"It's merely the fact that they exist that I detest," Voldemort said. He closed his terrible red eyes for a moment before he said, "All of them so happy… it made me sick. So I decided to entertain myself with seeing fear and dread in their eyes."

His eyes opened again, but instead of bright red, they turned into a pair of big, yellow eyes. "And now all I have to do is finish you off and it will be certain!"

Voldemort's body had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake as his head and body began lengthening. His shoulders were hunching over as scales were sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were merging with the rest of his body as he began to grow.

Harry watched; horrified at what he saw…

Where Voldemort once stood—was an enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, which had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly as its yellow eyes looked down at him—his fangs glistening like sabers.

Harry froze, his sword—which suddenly felt about as useful as a toothpick—fell from his limp hand and let out another song-like chime as it hit the stone. Bellatrix was laughing uncontrollably as the enormous serpent—30 feet long at least—slowly uncoiled itself and stuck its tongue out to taste the air.

Harry took a step back, tripping over a stray root and scrambling back to his feet, grabbing his sword and now trying to come up with some kind of plan. But none came to mind… he didn't know what to do here… his head was blank… but then he heard it.

"Harry?" called a familiar voice behind him and he felt as if his insides were turned to ice.

"Hermione!" he yelled, "Go back! It's not safe!"

The snake then lunged forward and Harry turned and ran as the snake started after him. He didn't know what to do here. He couldn't jump down into the hole with the others for Voldemort would just come after them. He looked up at the stone walls around him—he was so close…

He turned his head to see the snake's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting the walls as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, yellow eyes, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous —

Harry ducked just in time as the snake struck. He could hear the rush of wind blowing past him as the head swooped over him, feel the scales slide across his hand with such speed that it felt as if was burning. He could still hear Bellatrix laughing at him and his insides burned with anger.

Pushing himself up, he ran straight at her. He glanced beside him and saw Voldemort turn his head to him—he may be bigger but he's slower. Harry then charged at Bellatrix, who suddenly stopped laughing and growled as she pulled out a knife.

Harry dodged as she threw the knife at him and went for her. Managing to get behind her, he grabbed her arm, the sword at her throat as he turned to Voldemort. If he wanted to kill him so bad, he'll have to do it by eating his servant as well. But then, as the snake lunged again, Harry couldn't believe what Voldemort was about to do. He let go and fell away just as Bellatrix stood there and grinned triumphantly at him… but she realized what was about to happen too late. Voldemort's mouth closed around her and her scream was swallowed whole.

Harry stared at him. He had just swallowed his own servant… ate her like nothing…

He really wasn't anything more than a monster.

Voldemort didn't seem bothered with the fact he had just swallowed his last servant as he turned back to hiss at him. It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed Harry's side as he moved sideways.

"Harry!" screamed Ron's voice, and he turned his head to see that both Ron and Hermione had climbed up out of the hole and were staring in horror at the serpent.

"Get back!" Harry yelled at them, "It's Voldemort! He turned into a snake! Don't let that venom touch you! It's death!"

"Like hell we're leaving you here!" Ron shouted as he grabbed the mace and went slamming it with all his strength into Voldemort's side.

"We're sticking with each other—so we might as well get used to it," Hermione cried as she set fire to the end of the staff with the flint before she went and jabbed it in the snake's face.

Though he didn't feel the mace, he sure felt the fire. With a roar of pain, he jerked his head up and pulled the staff out of Hermione's hands. Voldemort was spitting in agony, his giant head crashing into one of the walls, trying to shake the stick out of his burned eye. Harry yelled at them to move, and they did so without complaint; but not before Voldemort managed to finally throw off the staff and used his one good eye to spot Ron.

"No!" Harry shouted, and before he realized what he was doing, he had launched himself into the air and onto the serpents back where he jabbed the sword right through the thick scales. It felt as if he was on a large, heavy bag of water as he continued to put holes into it—trying to distract it. His hands were slick with blood and the snake was now trying to throw him off. He hung on as tight as he could until he heard Hermione scream.

He looked up to see that Voldemort was now going after her, but at the last second, Ron came tearing out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground so the snake ended up slamming it's head into the wall. The shockwave that had been created with as he hit the stone caused Harry to lose his balance and he fell off. Venom was dripping from its fangs as its mouth opened wide—actually causing the stone beneath it to start melting as Voldemort pulled his head out.

Gasping for breath, tasting blood in his mouth, Harry pushed himself back up as Voldemort came back to face him. Making a wild snatch for the sword he dropped, he held it up in both hands as he lunged at him again. Harry threw all his weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth — but as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. Screaming in pain, he pulled back as the sword melted inside the serpent's mouth and he was splattered with some liquid.

Harry could hear his friends screaming his name as the snake howled in pain. Voldemort thrashed around in agony as Harry fell back to the ground. Gasping for breath he looked up to see the snake twisting it's head around in a disgusting way before it fell with a might crash to the ground.

Harry laid on his back, staring up at the cloudy and unmoving sky—his vision going and breathing painful. Darkness clouded his eyes as he wrenched the fang out of his arm… but he knew that it was hopeless… already he could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper into the warm dark.

"Harry?! HARRY!" screamed out Ron and Hermione's voices as they tore over the body of the dead snake and rushed over to where he lay. He looked up at their blurred faces, unable to even see their tears.

He opened his mouth and try to tell them how much they meant to him… how never would have made it this far without them… and how sorry he was for failing.

Is this how it was going to end? Just when he came this far?

'_I'm sorry, Ginny,'_ he thought as he fell into the warm dark, his eyes closing as sleep took over. _'I tried…'_

But as his eyes closed and he felt himself fading away, he felt a warmer hand over his own cold one… and a voice that he only ever heard from his dreams… '_You haven't failed yet…'_

Harry opened his eyes and he gasped. _'Ginny?'_ he asked her. They were floating in this darkness together, her there with him as her hair and dress blew around her as if they were underwater. She smiled, tears in her eyes as she held his hands in his own.

'_It's not over for you now…'_ she whispered to him. _'You still have the rest of your life ahead of you. I'm still waiting for you…'_

He stared up at those beautiful brown eyes and smiled back.

'_I love you,'_ she whispered, and he reached up to touch her face.

He opened his mouth to tell her that he loved her as well, but before he could, he felt as if someone was pulling him backwards and away from her.

'_GINNY!'_ he yelled to her and their hands were pulled apart again like last time. But this time she was still smiling.

'_I'm still waiting for you!'_ she cried to him. _'In the tallest tower!'_

And that's when it all faded.

Harry had no idea how long he laid there. It could've been a few minutes, or even a couple days. He honestly didn't know anymore. Only that his body felt very weak and tired… he could hear the sounds of sniffling around him and he opened his eyes with a gasp to see that he was looking back at Ron and Hermione. Ron was very pale, Hermione had bloodshot and wet eyes.

"Harry?" she whispered, a few more drops fell from her tearstained face. "We thought…"

"I'm alright," he whispered back, suddenly realizing that he was breathing and the terrible pain in his arm had faded almost completely. He sat up so quickly that they gasped as he stared around him. They were still in the stone courtyard, the remains of the snake were still laying dead on the ground, and his friends were still leaning anxiously over him.

"What happened?" he asked, staring around him in amazement. He then remembered his arm and looked down to the puncture wound… except now there was no wound.

He held it up and stared at it, even running his fingers over the skin to make sure that he couldn't feel anything.

"What happened?" he repeated in a hoarse voice. "I thought… I was sure that…"

"We thought we lost you for sure, mate," Ron said, still looking very pale. "But look…"

He looked to see what Ron was holding and realized that it was the hilt of what was left of the silver sword. The shining blade had been melted, but the ruby-encrusted handle was drenched in some kind of shining liquid. Harry blinked at it before he looked back down at his arm and realized that the same liquid had splashed onto his own arm. "What is this?" he asked softly.

"I remember reading something like this," Hermione whispered as she stared at him. "I read once that the swords of the knights of old were special in that they contained the tears of a phoenix."

"Phoenix tears?" Harry croaked out.

"Phoenix tears have enormous healing powers," she gasped, tears falling again, but out of happiness rather than sadness. "In the old days, the knights carried the antidote to any poison or wound inside the hilt of the sword. This must've been just like it! So when the sword was smashed here…"

"I got splashed with it," Harry gasped, his heart filling up with joy as he struggled to his feet. Staring at his hands for a moment he grinned at the other two who hugged him tightly. "God, I thought I was done for there."

"Don't you scare us like that again," Hermione said, now sounding cross as she pulled away and gave him a sharp look. "If you do…"

"You'll kill me," he answered her grinning as she began howling. He hugged her again as he looked over to Ron and asked, "Ginny?"

He smiled and shows him to the door to the tower. Helping him to stand, they staggered to the door and forced it open. The palace was full of people like outside, and it couldn't have been clearer that they had no idea to what had just happened.

Ron led them through the castle, up stairs, down hallways, twice he led them through a secret passageway and over the sleeping bodies until they finally reached the foot of the tower. But as they reached it, Ron suddenly collapsed.

"Ron?" Hermione asked anxiously as she bent down with him. He looked up and still looked dazed from the beating he took from the queen statue.

"Are you…?" Harry gasped before he stared at what happened next. Hermione pulls Ron's head up and kissed him full on the mouth.

Harry stared as Hermione pulled away to stare at him. Ron's jaw was wide open and he was looking stunned, gasping for breath like a fish out of water.

"Thanks," she whispered, turning bright red. "You know… for saving my life downstairs?"

He blinks before he pulls her in and starts to snog right back.

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. But since Ron gave him such a lecture on him being with Ginny, he'll talk to him about Hermione later—who was as dear to him as a sister. He decided to leave the lovebirds there as he turned and reached the stairs alone. It was so full of plants that he was wondering if he still needed the sword that had just saved his life. But the second he set foot onto the first step, the vines parted for him. Blinking in surprise, his heart racing, he took a deep breath and began running up the stairs as fast as his legs could go.

Round and round the spiral staircase went as he continued to run. It felt as if he was just running in place for he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. As he was struggling to breath, the vines continued to part away from him until at long last he reached the landing. Collapsing for a moment on the hard stone, he knelt there, trying to get his breath back—his legs were screaming in pain and his whole body ached.

But he was here.

He looked up in time to see a single wooden door. There was no doorknob—but rather a small keyhole.

Feeling as if an electrical charge was going through his body, he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the little battered key. This was it…

He pushed himself back up to his feet and stared at the door before he took slowly fitted it right into the hole. It fit perfectly and when he turned it, he heard a little 'click' and the key in his hands vanished only to be replaced by a door handle. Feeling as if his heart was about to beat out of his chest, he turned it and walked inside.

It was a small, dark room made from the same rough and aged stone as the rest of the castle, but the columns that held up the roof in here were elaborate with little stone rosebuds decorating them and with little cherubs carved here and there. He spotted a single candle in the only window that had the plants creeping over most of the room like veins inside a person's body.

But he wasn't noticing anything else as he stepped over an old spinning wheel that laid on the floor… if you were to look at the wheel, you could see the string that connected it was reaching over to a long bed where the spindle lay on the floor beside it.

And there she was. He pushed on forward, only the sound of his own breath accompanying him. Sleeping in the long bed with a tall headboard and beautiful drapery hanging from it, was a girl… looking just as she always did…

The vines had wrapped themselves around her like thick chains, wrapped around her arms and the bed—almost as if it was holding her there.

Slowly, he walked towards her, staring at her face. It was here. The same face that he knew so well from the dreams.

Her long red hair was spread out like a fan underneath her head, her lips were as red as a rose, and she was still in the green gown he had always seen her in. Her hands were clasped above her blankets, clutching an almost dead and withered rose—he silently walked over and got down on one knee to see her face better. He took one of her cold hands in his, ignoring the rose as he stared at her pale face. Though it was as pale as death and there was no breath from her lips… she looked very peaceful… as if dreaming of pleasant things.

"Ginny," he whispered. Carefully ignoring the thorns and buds, he lowered his head, and gently placed his lips over her own. He had expected her lips to be as cold as her hands were, but instead they were soft and warm… he could feel his heart racing, a slight warmth filling his body. It was his first kiss, he felt childish to admit that… but this one kiss felt like…

But before he could begin to describe how it felt, he felt Ginny's mouth opened and he pulled away as he saw her beautiful brown eyes looking at him as she took a long, shuddering gasp of air. The buds on the vines suddenly opened and her head was surrounded by roses. Breathing hard, she stared up at him and he stared back—unable to move.

Slowly she raised a shaking hand to his face and held it there, tracing his eye with her finger.

"Is it… you?" she asked, her voice sounding like music to his ears.

He took her other hand and helped her to sit up. "Yes," he said smiling. "I found you."

She blinked in amazement before she smiled back. "You came back…" she whispered. "Harry…"

"I always do," he said softly as he held her face like how she was doing with his. He smiled wider and whispered, "And I love you too."

And suddenly they both crashed their lips together in another kiss, snogging as hard as the lovebirds downstairs.

This couldn't be happening—it was too amazing, too incredible, too wonderful… every sensation was vivid and powerful: they were both painfully aware of their hearts hammering against their ribcages, and their lips seemed blister and burn…

Harry cupped her face in his hands and the kisses became softer—gentler… and then they were kissing properly, but slowly.

They both knew that the other felt the same way… as if this one moment was what they had been waiting for their whole lives. This felt like they were complete—that they were finally home.

This one moment made everything worthwhile.

They were so lost in their own little world that they didn't even notice that music was back in the air, the vines were vanishing, leaving nothing but the flower petals, the people were waking up around them, the castle was coming back to life.

They didn't even noticing that the dead rose that Ginny dropped had suddenly burst into full bloom just as it fell to the floor.

**(Aww… only one more chapter and the epilogue left to go. Maybe a little fast pace, but I'm happy how it turned out. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well. I've been having a lot of computer trouble these days, so just bare with me until it's fixed.)**


	24. The Waking Princess

**Chapter 23: The Waking Princess**

No one had the slightest clue to what just happened to them. The eyes of every person at the party suddenly opened and they were all looking around them, not remembering to how they got there in the first place.

But the strangest thing was that none of them could ever remember seeing the countless flower petals that were covering everything.

At that moment, the king and queen were just waking up.

"Arthur?" the queen asked croakily, as her brown eyes opened and she slowly raised her head to stare around them. She spotted her husband just a few feet away from her and she reached out to shake his shoulder. "Arthur?" she repeated. "What's happening? Are you alright?"

He groaned slightly in his sleep before he wearily opened his own eyes and looked up to see his wife's worried expression. "Molly?" he repeated weakly. He closed his eyes for another brief second; this sleep had to be the deepest he'd ever slept… but then the heavy fog in his mind cleared and he remembered what happened.

"Wait…" he whispered, his eyes snapping open and he saw up at once, his body felt so weak but he ignored it all as he stared around him.

"Ginny," he whispered, and Molly's eyes widened in horror as he got up and pulled her immediately up to her feet as well. He was relieved to see that most of their sons were also lying just a few yards away and were also coming too as well.

"We have to go and find her," he said, noticing the tears in Molly's eyes. "I don't know what happened, but we have to…"

"You need not worry," said an aged voice from behind them. The king and queen looked up at once and were started to see an old man coming towards them with a bright smile. He was dressed in dark purple that was plastered with golden stars… his long silver beard shining like a ghost.

He beamed at them all as he looked around. "I never thought that I would set foot in this place again after all these years. I have to admit it's a wonderful feeling…" He looked to them as the prince's all scrambled to their feet and said, "I have to admit that as soon as I felt Voldemort's castle destroyed, I knew that the time was coming soon," he told them all. "I came here to help, but by the time that I arrived, the protective barriers that I put up, were broken and everyone was already waking up."

"W-what barriers?" Percy demanded, looking a little green as he sat up, dusting off his fine clothes.

"Who are you?" Fred asked as he got back to his feet and heaving George up with him.

"It is good to see you again, Fredrick," the old man chuckled. "I can't tell you what a wonderful feeling it is seeing the royal family up and about again."

"What are you talking about?" George asked as he swayed where he stood, still feeling dizzy and lightheaded. He seemed really familiar and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this weird old man somewhere before. "Have we met?"

"Yes, from a long time ago," the old man answered, looking straight at the king and queen. "I know that I no longer look like I did when you last saw me… but that's only because so much has happened since then."

Arthur looked confused as he looked at the old man's bright blue eyes before his own eyes widened.

"Dumbledore?" he whispered, stumbling forward. "Is that you?"

"What's left of him," Dumbledore answered gently. "I have to say, how much I missed speaking with you."

"What happened to you?" George gasped out. "You're… you're…"

"I am afraid that I have grown old," Albus sighed calmly.

"But how?" Percy stuttered, pointing a shaking finger at him. "You-you were a young man just a few moments ago! You were young!"

"Too you all, I'm afraid that it has only felt like it has been a few moments since you last saw me," he said coming forward and putting his hands on the king's shoulders, still beaming. "But to the rest of the world, it has been almost a hundred years."

"A hundred years?" Molly screamed, looking close to fainting. "What do you mean that it's been a hundred years?! We were just going up to the tower and the next second we were all down here! We were going to find Ginny and…"

But he was shaking his head in a gloomy sort of way. He gave her a sympathetic look before he answered, "I am afraid that we were not able to reach the princess in time. She had pricked her finger on the spinning wheel and fell asleep… just as it was foretold."

Molly put her hands up to her mouth and looked as if she were about to cry, but he took her hands, still smiling and told her, "But it is alright now. Voldemort is defeated… for good this time. He was killed not too long ago…"

"But how?" Arthur asked, baffled to what he was saying. "I just don't see how this is all…?"

"It was the same person who woke the princess with true love's kiss that slew Voldemort in his true form," Albus explained, looking over their shoulders to the staircase. "And you have Prince Ronald to thank for bringing him here."

"Ron?" Fred and George both gasped, staring at each other.

"What are you talking about?" Fred demanded. "I'm lost here."

"You aren't the only one bro," George agreed. "What's happening here?"

"Instead of answering, why don't you look over your shoulder and ask him yourself?" he asked, pointing up ahead.

They all turned, and there they were. Ron and Hermione, who had borrowed beautiful dress from Ginny, were coming down the stairs. They beamed at the sight of them all and Ron waved merrily, having changed into good clothes as well.

"Hey," he called, coming over to her as Hermione ran her finger through her tangled hair.

"Ron…?" George gasped, staring at Hermione, who smiled back.

"Hey!" Ron snapped, looking past them to see Dumbledore. "You crazy old man! Do you have the slightest idea to what you ended up putting us through? Ordeals, magic mirrors, dark forests, mountains with hats… and all this? What? Did you have too much time on your hands to think of all this?!"

Hermione was also frowning at them as he smiled. "I am truly sorry for putting you all through this," Dumbledore told them gravely. "Had I known, I never would have done so… but by the time I felt the spell weaken, and put two-and-two together and hurried over here… you had everything taken care of."

"Oh, real nice excuse!" Ron yelled, folding his arms. "You have no idea to what we all had to go through."

"Could you guys please tell us what the heck is going on here?" George croaked out, now sounding completely lost.

"But your sister…?" Molly whispered shakily as the boys looked at Hermione in surprise.

"There," Ron said, jerking his thumb at the stairs again, turning back to Dumbledore and continuing to argue. And there they were. Harry was guiding Ginny down the stairs, her face all aglow as they stared at each other. They glanced up just as they reached the foot of the stairs and Ginny beamed at the sight of them as she waved happily. "Mum! Dad! Percy! Fred! George!"

Almost dragging Harry with her, they went up to them and Ginny hugged her parents tightly. Molly merely hugged her back, still looking completely lost to what was happening here. Arthur stared from his wife, to Ron, to Ginny and back again—as if hoping that someone could explain to him just what was going on here.

But before anyone could say anything else, the musicians, who had pulled themselves up and had started playing a tune like they had been doing before they fell asleep. Ginny looked to them before she grinned widely. She looked back to Percy and said, "Sorry… looks like I won't be able to give you that first dance after all."

And without saying another word, she grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him to the dancefloor as Hermione giggled at the startled look on his face.

"But he doesn't know how to dance," she said.

"Sure he does," Ginny yelled back as the music continued playing.

"Hey wait a minute!" Percy shouted, looking like someone stuck him in the face with a heavy object. "Who is that guy?"

Ron merely looked at him and said, "Shut up. Do you have any idea how much trouble we had to go through? I rather he be with her than just some random bloke."

***Harry and Ginny***

Ron had given Harry some new clothes, though they were slightly big for him as Ginny brought him to the center of the ballroom and the guests had stopped talking long enough to watch them. "Ginny, they're all staring at us," Harry whispered, but Ginny merely pursed her lips together and whispered, "Let them stare."

She took his hands like she done before and waited for a moment. Breathing hard, silently grateful for those past dancing lessons, Harry was able to guide her across the floor. The smell of flowers was in the air as they danced across the countless petals on the floor and the guest all started talking to their friends of neighbors on how the princess was dancing with someone they didn't know.

But Harry wasn't paying any attention to that… not even as some of Ginny's brothers were glaring at him—he could feel their eyes on the back of his head and Ginny rolled her eyes as she glanced over his shoulder.

"They're all idiots," she said.

He chuckled softly before he leaned in and asked her just one question—the same question that he asked her every other time they before, "What's your name?"

She beamed back, understanding at once to what he was getting at. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" she asked happily.

"In case you remember one day?" he asked, the words suddenly sounding like an old story that they had told to each other countless times.

She smiled. "Ginny… just Ginny."

"Not to me," he whispered as they spun around, their hearts soaring in happiness as everything around them seemed to fade away. For that one moment, they were in their own little world once again… a world that no one else knew about… a world where it was just the two of them.

He glanced up to see the royal family was all gathered together, including Ginny's two older brothers who had just walked in. Ron and Hermione were holding hands and talking to each other as Dumbledore merely smiled at them. Harry made a mental note to have a few words with him tomorrow.

"You think that your family will mind that you are marrying a simple farm boy?" he asked her. "After all, they expected a princess to marry some kind of prince or noble right?"

"Even if they didn't, that wouldn't stop me," she whispered back fiercely. "Nothing but true love could've woken me after all. And I know that mum will love you."

"I hope so," he answered as they became lost in the music and continued their dance.

***Ron and Hermione***

"You know, he's doing pretty good for a guy who's never danced before," Hermione giggled as she watched them. "The perfect couple aren't they?"

"But how?" Charlie asked. Dumbledore had just explained to them what had been going on since the curse fell and Ron told them how he had woken up and found Harry and Hermione. He talked about their adventures and how they had come back here to wake the kingdom up. "I mean… how did they meet? She's been asleep, and no one else has been here for years right?"

"The spell," Albus whispered as Ron and Hermione continued to watch the happy couple. "Ginny was able to dream for all this time. But only someone who completes her heart could've reached her. Their hearts somehow crossed paths in their dreams and they were able to meet. And over time, they fell in love. She had been waiting for Harry all these years… and finally they are together."

Molly stared at the two of them, looking at the blissful smile on her daughter's face. After a few more minutes, a small smile appeared on her lips as well. Sure, she didn't know who this young man was, and sure, she had no idea how they had met, but she could see the look in their eyes. Love… nothing less…

If he was who her daughter wanted, then she couldn't say no could she?

***Harry and Ginny***

The rest of the royal family watched as Ginny whispered to him. "I guess my wish came true," she said to Harry alone.

"What wish?" he asked, his eyebrows raised as they twirled around, the song now coming to an end.

"Before I went to sleep," she explained, they're bodies moving just a little bit closer. "I made a wish on a candle that I could meet someone who would take me on adventures, and it was you." And they both began to think about it. The forest… the field… the beach… even the palace floor that they were dancing on; as well as all the other places they had met up in over the years. "I don't know why you would ever fall for someone like me," Harry began but then they stopped dancing as she looked up at him.

"I would take you over any prince," she whispered. "A prince would merely buy me anything… but you… gave me the world…" She smiled as she reached up to feel his face as he took hold of her soft hand.

"I'm so glad that it was you," she told him truthfully.

He grinned back. "I can't wait to see how my parents take the news."

He then leaned in for a kiss—and she was only too happy to throw her arms around his neck and kiss back just has hard as he was. Everyone started whispering around them, pointing and gasping at what was happening, but they paid no attention. As far as they were concerned, they were still in their little world.

"I love you," she whispered when they broke apart for air. They're foreheads pressed together and their eyes clothes softly as he answered back, "As I love you…"

He kissed her again…

"With all my heart."

**(Only the epilogue to go. I really hope that you all have enjoyed this happy ending and I hope that the last chapter will be going up soon.)**


	25. Epilogue: The Sleeping Princess

**Epilogue: The Sleeping Princess**

A small castle stood on the edge of what was normally a bustling town—but everything was now quiet and peaceful as night had come and covered everything in a warm blanket. This castle stood on a small hill, overlooking the shore and the sparkling ocean that shone in the starlight, with a feeble crescent moon shining on the sleeping town.

In this castle, a family of five lived and the mother had just finished telling her daughter a bedtime story.

"And then what happened?" little Lily cooed to her mother. "After the farm boy kissed the princess awake?"

"You know the story as well as I do by now," Ginny laughed. She had been telling this new princess this story almost every night since she was born. "The princess and her farm boy prince came downstairs and danced all night."

"And the next morning, the king and queen asked them what had happened to them while they had slept?" Lily asked, her bright brown eyes—just like her mother's—shining brightly.

Ginny laughed again. "Yes, they wanted to know exactly what had happened while they had been asleep, and the princess told them about her new prince."

"And the farm boy said that he loved the princess more than anything?" Lily piped up.

Ginny grinned. "Yes, and that made the princess so happy just to hear those words. The queen was thrilled… she liked him right away. You know what she said?"

"She said that she was glad that someone with manners was finally coming into the family!" Lily laughed.

"That's right," Ginny giggled as she pushed the active 5 year old into bed. "And then a week later, the Farm Boy Prince and the Sleeping Princess were married."

"And what happened to everyone else?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well, the prince who had been with them their whole journey, and the farm girl were married as well," Ginny said seriously. "And then that was when word was sent to their families back on the farm and I can tell you how shocked they all were."

"They must've been surprised," Lily nodded wisely. "After all, they didn't expect them to marry royalty."

"Also, an old pirate came to the wedding," Ginny went on.

"Like Uncle Sirius?" Lily asked wonderingly.

"Just like Uncle Sirius," Ginny smiled. "And the whole family loved him right away…"

"Except for the queen?" Lily asked, knowing the answer.

"Well," Ginny admitted. "She got along with him ok, I suppose. But she always thought he was a bad influence on the rest of the family."

Lily giggled innocently. "And once the royal family awoken, they were able to get control of the land and the nobles were all punished for how they treated the people."

"That's right," Ginny nodded. "They all got their dues. Once the king and queen discovered how the nobles abused their power, they were able to seize control of all their fortunes and use it to help the poor people."

"And then what?" Lily asked knowingly.

"The Sleeping Princess and the Farm Boy Prince had a castle built on the edge of one of these towns near the beach but for the first few years of their marriage, they didn't use it. For they travelled the land—as well as with the Farm Girl and the Princess's brother. And for the next few years, they travelled together… going to many places that were just as beautiful as the dreams that the princess had with her farm boy. But then they finally decided to return to their castle where they had two sons…"

"But the princess wanted a daughter too didn't she?" Lily asked at once.

"She really wanted a daughter," Ginny laughed. "And she was so happy when her third child turned out to be a beautiful baby girl. When these three children were born, the eldest son was given the gift of adventure."

"Like James?" Lily asked.

"That's exactly right," Ginny nodded. "And that means that he will always be sure to find exciting adventures to go on… as for the second son, he had been given the gift of courage like his father."

"Like daddy and Albus both have?" Lily stated.

"Right," Ginny said. "And as for their daughter… she was given the gift of a long and happy life filled with love."

"Just like me," Lily giggled.

"Just like you," Ginny smiled and kissed the top of her head. "And then they lived happily ever after… to the end of their days."

Lily stood up in bed and began waving a stick around as if she was fighting an imaginary monster with the same sword from the story. "Wow! The prince was sure something wasn't he?"

"He sure was," Ginny nodded wisely. "And I'm sure that he still is…"

"Did he and the princess ever flip into each other's minds again?" she asked curiously.

Ginny merely smiled. "No, they haven't. But then again, they didn't need to. For they found each other and have been together every day since then."

"Here you are," said a familiar voice behind them. Ginny turned to beam at her husband, standing in the doorway, in a very simple robe, smiling down at the two of them.

"Did you put the little monsters to bed?" Ginny asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Barely," he laughed. "Getting the boys to sleep is harder than fighting any monster if you ask me. Now then…" he added, turning to give his daughter a sarcastic look. "Why isn't my sleeping princess sleeping right now?"

Lily giggled loudly as she got up and hugged her daddy tightly; Harry picked her up and spun her around as she roared with laughter. "You were supposed to be asleep an hour ago!" he told her as he collapsed onto the bed with her on his chest with Ginny laughing at the two of them.

"Mummy was telling me a story," she informed him, looking up at her.

"She was, was she?" Harry asked looking up to his wife. "What about?"

"The same story as always," she answered as Lily dropped her stick.

"Oh, right…" he said sitting up, Lily clinging to his arms like a monkey. He frowned and sarcastically pretended to think. "The story about the hopping pot?"

"No!" Lily laughed.

"No?" he repeated in mock surprise. "Ok… oh, wait! It was the story with the laughing stump?"

"No!" Lily screamed with laughter. "It was the Sleeping Princess!"

"Oh, right," Harry laughed, smacking his forehead. "That was my next guess."

"Ok," Ginny said standing up, a bright smile on her own face. "Enough of that. Everyone needs to go to bed. We're going to meet up with Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione tomorrow remember?"

"Oh, does that mean we get to see Hugo and Rose?" Lily asked brightly.

"When don't we?" Harry laughed, running his hands through her hair. "You all can play the Sleeping Princess tomorrow too."

"Ok," she said. "But I'm going to play the part of the princess! And Rose will play the farm girl won't she?"

"That's how you always play," Ginny grinned. "And Hugo will be the princess's dense brother, Albus plays the part of the farm boy prince… and James is usually the monsters that stand in the way. And if Teddy decides to come, he'll be playing the part of the old cranky pirate."

After a few more rounds of laughter, Lily was finally worn out enough to fall back onto her bed and was yawning widely as her mother covered her with the blanket.

Ginny reached down and kissed her forehead as Harry blew out the lantern darkening the whole room as if he was casting a spell. "Goodnight," Ginny whispered as she and her husband turned and left the room. But just as they were about the close the door, they heard Lily ask, "Daddy? Mummy?"

Harry stopped and they poked their heads back into the room. Little Lily rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked, "Is that a real story?"

They both smiled at each other, as if sharing a secret that only they knew about.

"Maybe a little bit," Harry answered her, knowing that it wouldn't matter either way, for Lily was almost asleep by this point. Chuckling lightly, they quietly closed the door as they tiptoed away from their daughter's room. As they reached the ground floor, Harry took hold of his wife's hand and together, the couple went outside into the dark, cool night. They could hear the sounds of the sleeping animals in the town below them, and hear the sounds of the waves lapping up on the sandy beaches in the distance. They stood there, under the stars as they simply enjoyed the stars together.

"Think they'll ever figure it out?" Harry asked her. "That it's less of a story and more of memories?"

Ginny giggled. "Oh, I'm sure that they'll realize that it was more than just a story one of these days. But let's let them play for now."

They stood there silent for a long moment before Harry asked her softly, "Who are you?"

It was a question that he hadn't asked her in a long time, but one that brought back so many memories. She knew at once what he meant as she looked up into his eyes. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" she asked softly.

"In case you might answer?" he grinned down at her.

She smiled back, reaching up to touch his cheek, tracing his eye with a delicate finger and whispered, "My name is Ginny. I am the daughter of King Arthur and Queen Molly… as well as the mother of Princes James and Albus and Princess Lily. I am your loving wife… and you are my husband… Harry."

He smiled as he leaned to kiss her. "And I wouldn't have it any other way," he told her. And then their lips met, their hearts melting together perfectly… the two of them still just as much in love as they had been since their first kiss.

**(And that is the end of my first fairytale story! I hoped that you all enjoyed it, and I want to thank everyone who had stuck with it since chapter one. I plan on writing a few more fairy tales with other HP characters and I hope that they turn out just as good as this one. Thanks again, and write again soon.)**


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